Im not the kind of man who tends to socialize

Oh what a rainy and disastrous weekend. Hope that everything's going to be fine after the storm. Whenever there is an approaching storm, I always remember my friends from the old days. We used to hang around in street corners, complete with our fave raincoats and a boom box/cassette player. We played our collection of rock and roll tapes while waiting for the storm to come. We had a friend (totoy rewind) before who loves to "rewind" our rock and roll tapes with his ball pen, because during those times, if you wanted to play your favorite music, you had to wait for it since you cannot just skip to that song. You had to rewind/forward it by using your cassette player, or in our case, by using a ball pen or a rolled scarf.

Ondoy

Hanep din naman yung si Ondoy, kala ko nung una ay kaunting ulan lang ang ibabaksak ni kolokoy. Bigla tuloy nagkaayaan ang mga tropa na mag set ng isang magandang tomaan pagkakain ng tanghalian. Alam ko namang hindi agad magsisimula ang mga loko sa napagkasunduang oras. Kaya nung makapananghalian ako ay agad muna akong umidlip. Para na rin may panglaban ako sa mga malalakas ang resistensya sa mamam.

Nung magising ako bandang alas-tres ng hapon ay baha na sa lugar namin. Ngayon lang nangyari ito sa lugar namin mula nung malipat ako dito. Sumilip ako sa labas ng bahay namin at napuna kong medyo aligaga na ang ibang mga neighbor ko-ang dahilan? pumasok na sa loob ng bahay nila ang tubig ulan/baha. Bigla tuloy akong nag-alala, hindi dahil sa tumataas ang tubig ulan/baha. Nag-alala ako sa mga tropa ko dahil baka nagsisimula na silang tumoma. Maya-maya pa ay nakatanggap na ako ng text at sinabing hindi na kami matutuloy dahil binaha na rin ang lugar nila. Buti nga sa inyo, mahihilig kasi kayong lumaklak ng malamig na serbesa kahit bumabagyo na. Pero teka diba mas masarap lumaklak ng malamig na serbesa kapag umuulan at kapiling ka-oops mukhang kanta yata iyon ah.

Neweis, dahil sa wala rin lang akong magagawa ay minabuti ko na lang tanungin yung mga neighbor ko kung may maitutulong ba ako sa kanila, huwag lang tungkol sa pera. Ang ibig kong sabihin ay kung may kailangan bang buhatin na mahahalagang bagay at gamit at ilipat sa itaas ng bahay nila para hindi na masira ng tubig ulan/baha. Buti naman ay naagapan na daw nila ang kanilang mahahalagang bagay bago pa man tumaas ang tubig ulan/baha.

Medyo masuwerte pa pala kami, dahil dun sa labasan namin ang tubig ulan/baha ay halos lagpas tao na. May isang mama nga akong nakita na tumatawid sa kalye ng palangoy. Susana bagets, eh daanan nung tricycle yung kalsadang iyon, kailan pa naiconvert na balara pool ang nasabing kalye.

Nung makabalik na ako sa bahay namin ay may natanggap akong isang text dun sa dakilang buraot na kilala ko. Pupunta daw siya sa amin at baka kailangan ko daw ng responde. Alam ko namang hindi responde ang gustong gawin noon sa akin. Isang code yun na gusto pa rin niyang tumoma kahit bagyo na. Hinayaan ko lang ang madilim niyang plano na pumunta sa akin. Maya-maya pa ay nagtext na uli at sinabing hindi na raw siya makakarating sa amin dahil lagpas tao raw dun sa dadaanan niyang kalsada. Kitam din hindi rin siya nakalusot, bwahahahahahahahah.

Hindi pa halos natatapos yung malakas kong halakhak ay bigla namang nagbrown-out. Kasabay nung brown-out ay yung pagtaas pa uli ng tubig sa harap ng bahay namin. Mukhang papasok na yata ang tubig ulan/baha sa bahay ko. Kaunting alon na lang ay siguradong nasa loob na ng bahay ang tubig ulan/baha. Kaya para maiwasan nang masira ang mga gamit ko sa bahay ay agad ko itong inilipat sa pangalawang palapag. Ang unang naiakyat ay ang mga speakers, mga lp's, gitara, sound source, line conditioner at ref. Ref? teka baka naman hindi na umabot sa ref yung tubig, puede bang unahin na lang natin yung mga cd collection ko (medyo shy at mahina ang boses).

Masarap din naman pala yung walang kuryente. Kasi muli kong nakausap na harapan yung mga kasama ko sa bahay. Napuna ko tuloy na nagsisilaki na rin sila. Madalas kasi kapag gusto ko silang makausap ay nagpupunta lang ako sa isang instant messaging site para sabihing kakain na kami. O kaya kung gusto ko namang mapansin nila ako agad ay ititwitter ko na lang sila.

Buti na lang at mukhang humuhupa na yung tubig ulan/baha. Sana bumilis pang humupa para may oras pa rin kami ng mga katropa ko na "mag catch up" sa toma. Sayang kasi, malamig pa naman ang panahon at walang kuryente. Magandang background habang lumalaklak ng malamig na serbesa.

Mag nightswimming na lang kaya ako. Baduy, hindi nightswimming sa tubig ulan/baha, kundi magsounds ng R.E.M. Kaya lang brownout pa rin. Nasaan na kaya yung libro kong "Bible Code" na gawa ni אליהו ריפס o yung "propecies of Nostradamus". Pero teka baka naman lumabo pa ang mata ko niyan. Mahirap din magbasa ng madilim. Sana 2012 na.

upgrade?

friday blues

It's friday again and my mind is raging to get to the nearest folk, rock, blues or jazz bar. however, my body isn't. This is a bad signal especially on a friday. I always looked at a friday as a day to spend nicely. But not necessarily inside any bar I mentioned earlier. I can stay the whole friday night inside my room, listening to some cd's or lp's collection. But today, I think something's amiss. Ah, I think I'll have a cold shower first and then "re-start" my mind and body conditioning. Thy will be done...I hope so...me bad.

Sit him at a keyboard and his soul takes flight

Strangers in a new culture see only what they know

Ang bilis talaga ng araw, halos hindi ka pa nakakarekober sa hang-over mo at heto, ilang tulog na lang at friday na naman. Nagtataka lang ako, bakit kaya tuwing biyernes ay marami ang gumigimik. Puede namang araw-araw ay gumimik. Ang dami ko ngang nakikita jan sa kalye na walang ginagawa pero araw-araw ay tumutoma. Buti na lang at sa pinas tayo nakatira. Kasi hindi ba, sa ibang bansa kapag masyado kang mahilig sa toma ang tingin sa iyo ay "bum" ba yun. Madalas akong makapanood nito sa tv, yun bang nakasuot ng trens coat, trench kot, trench coat. Ah basta yung nakasuot ng mahabang jacket na marumi tapos nakaupo lagi sa bench at may hawak na isang boteng lapad ala karl malden at michael douglas. Sa ibang bansa kasi kapag daw masyado kang mahilig sa alak, ang tingin nila sa iyo ay sugapa na. Dito sa pinas kapag mahilig kang uminom at magpa-inom ng alak ang tingin nila sa iyo ay-BOSSING.

what's the use of getting sober...when you're gonna get drunk today

How can you say no to friends from the old days, when they are inviting you for a bottle or two? For me, I don't say no for two reasons 1.) I love seeing old friends, and 2. )The ice cold bottle (or two is free. To show my respect to my loyal friends, I ordered a tuna belly and some tuna cubes (we made it sashimi style pica pica). The tuna belly was deep fried for only five minutes before we put butter on top of it-and the result? Tuna-belly-eating piranhas attacked it in seconds. Whattanight. Oops, but the next morning, one of our friends were looking for his wallet. He lost it daw on his way home. Not a very big deal, but somehow, someone's gonna be richer by six thousand on that day. You lucky guy, isoli mo yan at may karma yan, kung sino ka mang hindoropot ka.

bonzo

For the first time in our barkada's and kababata's life, the birthday celebrant "jumped the gun" and was the one who invited us. Usually we are the ones who make sulsol whenever our friend is nearing his natal day. Time's really changed. Upon checking my email, I found out that "our friend from the old days" is inviting us on his natal day-RSVP. But the lunatics in my head told me not to reply ASAP. Then came the day of the round table. I just suprised them with my mystery gift and as they always say-the rest is a fuckin' sober history.

He blew his mind out in a car.

rain et al

What a wet weekend (pun intended). All the outdoor activities that I was supposed to do (read: inuman sa kanto) were instead done inside our house...buset ganun din. Neweis while we are drinking our ice cold beer and waiting for the sun to come, I asked my beermates to give a title of a song that is related to rain. And here were their best answers:

1. Listen to the Falling Rain-Jose Feliciano
2. Rain-Beatles
3. Rain-Jose Feliciano
4. Rain Song-Led Zeppelin
5. Purple Rain-Prince
6. November Rain-Guns and Roses
7. A Hard Rains Gonna Fall-Bob Dylan
8. Have You Ever Seen the Rain-CCR
9. Here Comes the Rain Again-Eurithmix, Eurithmicks, Euritmik?

And in a sober manner of expression, I blurted out-

10. Ulan-Florante

clock ticking-quiet mode

Two minutes and thirty two seconds of Pranayama + Tom Ze's "O riso e a faca" = relaxed Friday evening

guitar-heavy music

Meron pa kayang makukuhang plaka or CD ng STYX-The Grand Illusion. Medyo matagal na rin kasi ang album na ito (late 70's?). Bigla ko kasing naalala ang nasabing album nung mapadaan ako dun sa dati kong tropa. Ito kasi ang madalas naming patugtugin nung araw. Meron siyang CD nito na madalas naming patugtugin dun sa mini component niya. Hanep kapag pumasok na yung kantang "Come Sail Away", headbangan na kami ng headbangan. Hindi bale, marami na rin naman ngayon ang nagbebenta on line ng mga napagsawaan nilang mga plaka at cd, sana palarin akong makaharbat nito. Kasi pag hindi, malamang na toreten ko na naman ito..opps sorry po.

?

Susana bagets ano kaya ang puedeng gawin today?. Nasanay na kasi akong umaalis kapag lunes, pero ngayon ay parang biglang nagbago ang ikot ng mundo ko. Kung sisimulan ko namang kalawkawin yung gitara ko ay malamang na maubos na ang buong maghapon ko. Linisin ko na lang kaya ang computer at music room ko. Kaya lang kapag naman naglilinis ako ng music room at nagsalpak ng plaka ay nagtritrip ako dun sa cover ng plaka. Wala rin akong magagawa kapag nagbasa na ako ng cover nung plaka. Manood na lang kaya ako ng news sa black and white radiowealth tv ko, ay wag na lang pare pareho lang naman ang balita, puro patayan at kurapsyon. Ah alam ko na ang mabuting gawin. Mag-iihaw ako ng liempo na ipahihiwa ko ng manipis na manipis parang bacon. Pagka-ihaw ay magbubukas na lang ako ng malamig na serbesa. Tama, pero mamayang kaunti pa iyon, maaga pa, dyahi sa mga neighbor ko na sensitive.

skidrow?

They've got a name for the winners in the world

music non stop

While I was cleaning the attic (read: garbage coming from the “balikbayan” box), I stumbled upon my old sony walkman cassette player, and some cassette tapes. I tried playing it to see if it still works, and YAHOO, it still does. I then immediately put on a pair of headphones and played a cassette tape. My mind wandered while I was cleaning and listening (to the tape), because I remembered the reel-to-reel tape that my “erpat” frequently used back in the old days. I grew sick of listening to the music of Perez Prado, Trio los Panchos, Harry Belafonte, and many more EVERY single day. Anyway, years after, my “erpat” took home an “Akai” stereo, with four large speakers attached. But even then, the albums he played on it were still the same-Perez Prado (Caballo Negro-tsarararan, tsaran tsaran- to the tune of Cherry Pink and Apple Blossom White), Trio los Panchos (Live), and Harry Belafonte (Live at Carnegie Hall).

When we moved out of our old house, we left the “Akai” at my grandmother’s house, where it then played the music of the Beatles and Carlito Santana (the favorite music of my “yoti”). At my parents new (highball) residence, me and my “utol” began to collect cassette tapes and albums. I remembered the time when my “ermat” took me to Cubao to buy a small electronic piano. When we returned home, we didn’t buy a piano; we bought instead a Sony system (consisting of a turntable, a cassette tape player, an amplifier, and a storage for vinyl). That same Sony system left good memories because, well, you know, “ito yung kapanahunan namin”.

Soon, I mustered enough courage to stand on my own (well, I was actually kicked out of the house because of my expanding “tribe”). I funded my own sound system. Of course, when you’re thinking of starting your own sound system, there’s only one name that comes to one's mind – BOSE.

Bose floor-standing, Bose 301, Bose ambient speakers, Bose acoustimass, Bose speaker wires and Bose stickers. These were paired with a Pioneer CD Player, a Pioneer Receiver (Pro-Logic), a Pioneer DVD/Karaoke player and of course a Pioneer sticker.

After many years, I forgot about the vinyls, but I didn’t turn them into flower pot stands, over sized earrings or boomerangs either – I just stored them away. Then came the Computer Age – I turned to Mp3s and listened to music mostly in my computer – be it torrents, Morpheus, or any other P2Ps. But wait, there was still something missing. Once, when we (me and an old man) were cooling off in Tagaytay, the old man suddenly asked me whether I was still listening to vinyls. It was a simple question from an old man who loved vinyls back then. Just to keep the night’s mood, I answered yes (I was still listening), even though I clearly know that my turntable didn’t have its cartridge anymore. When he (the old man) heard my answer, he said that he had a box full of vinyls that he wanted to dispose. The problem was that the vinyls had too much of a sentimental value to be thrown away. He then decided to just give it to me. I pretended not to be overjoyed, so I said, with a straight face, that I’ll just pass by his house to get the vinyls. And finally, next day, when we left Tagaytay, I tailed (nakaungaong sa salitang kalye) behind him to get the vinyls from his house.

Here I am, back to vinyls and upgrading my sound system.