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January 1st, 2009
09:01 pm - 2008
after the hell that was Super Noypi, Mihk and I decided to make a pact for "Drama-Free 2007". of course, because fate is such a douchebag, 2007 ended up being one of the most dramaful years of my life. so for last year we both decided to trick fate and go for "Penniless 2008", and it worked! take that, you dumb bastard!
2008 was by far one of the best years of my life. i went to great places for the first time, i saw two concerts that will forever be scorched in my mind as not only great gigs but great life experiences, i was able to actually hang out with personal heroes (and one of the hottest women alive), and i did so many things creatively that i was really happy about. what really made the year, though, was you guys. so, to the lovely new friends who i feel like i've known my whole life and the kids i've been proud to call friends for a while now: thank you from the bottom of my heart and the marrow in my bones. there's no other way to put it :)
I usually make a list of my top 10 favorite things about the year. however, there are just too many for 2008, so forgive me if i cheat and expand to 15 :)
15. Prisoner of ABSCBaN! Last year was the first time I really dipped my feet into mainstream television, and it was quite... educating, to say the least. We did a pilot called "Petiks" which might not see the light of day and another show called "Parekoy", premiering Jan 8. The work was hard, but the moments between takes were a blast.
14. The Rock Awards and The QLE. People misunderstand the QLE as being a reaction against the Rock Awards, but I think they perfectly complement each other. The Rock Awards is more about the scene -- it's all these lovely people who make the same kind of music getting together and celebrating , while QLE is really more about celebrating everyone's personal preferences and sharing music you may have missed out on. I never got to thank everyone for the fun, small, intimate party that was the QLE, and it's gotta be said that this year's Rock Awards was one of my favorites.
13. Hello Commercials! this year was my favorite in terms of advertising output! did a lot of spots i was really happy about like PNB, the Belo ads and a hilariously insane insecticide ad. I also got to work with Pilita Corrales for Anlene. that chick is so fine.
12. Us-2 Evil-0: the band that i have to thank for a lot of the Rakista ideas. you have Boga the pickup guru, Mich the mental case (only when it comes to being replaced, Michelle!), Nix the reluctant heartthrob and of course, Wincy, my muse who unbeknownst to him is providing me with enough material for a novel.
11. Rakenrol will have been gestating for 4 years by February, and when it gets released I fear it may be a bit dated. But it's our baby anyway, and we'll always be very proud of it.
10. Asian Hotshots Berlin! the crazy parties. the food. the lovely people. the art. the graffiti. the really hot festival organizers. the kickass tour guides. the sunlight through the hostel window on cold mornings. the food. HAVING THE DIRECTOR OF NEKROMANTIK BUY ME BEER. it does not get any better than that. Ich bin ein Berliner!
9. Death Cab for Ciudad going to watch my favorite foreign band with my favorite local band : priceless. i wasn't a big fan of the last album so i thought i'd just be steady the whole time, then they started playing songs from The Photo Album and We Have The Facts And We're Voting Yes and I started screaming like a girl, hahaha. having mikey being screamed at in Chinese in the middle of a hawker center was lots of fun too.
here: my New Year's gift to you. Death Cab doing "Title and Registration"
8. Goodbye Music Videos! so yeah, after an eye-opening music video project in the middle of the year i've decided to keep my dignity and semi-retire from making music videos. having said that, though, (and because you're all friends so i can say this without being too self-conscious) most of my favorite videos i've ever made were done this year, including Sandwich's "Procrastinator", Pupil's "Disconnection Notice", Urbandub's "Evidence", Sponge Cola's "Pasubali" and especially Taken by Cars' "Shapeshifter". Not a bad way to say goodbye :)
7. Rockeoke, as always, was the ultimate social networking tool. It's better than Facebook, I swear! Lots of lovely performances from you this year guys, and everything from Rockeoke Idol to MOMOL Night is a bit of a blur, but a good blur. Even better than the band Blur.
6. The Eraserheads Reunion just made me very happy to be Filipino. Eraserheads is unquestionably the greatest local band ever, and seeing tens of thousands sing along to their music just proved that. I consider myself immeasurably fortunate to have these people as my friends, but even these days I sometimes freeze up and get starstruck in the middle of conversations with Buddy, Ely or Raimund.
5. Dita Na Me, Wr Na U? From that awkward first dinner in the Japanese resto to the final moments hanging at the house, Dita Von Teese was a hurricane that went by quickly but left us all dazed in the aftermath. Her show was amazing, but hanging with her one realizes that she's also one of those people who are so nice that you start not getting sexually aroused by them. Yeah, she's THAT NICE. Love goes to her manager Melissa (since i am president of Melissa Fan Club Philippine chapter) and her main man Albert, who all my friends say is the most insane party animal they've encountered in their life.
4. Rockband. How can a videogame be better than all the things mentioned above? If you play "That's What You Get", "Monkey Gone to Heaven", "You're No Rock n' Roll Fun", "Kool Thing", "Maps" and "Brass in Pocket" on the Activision game, you just might understand. If you play it with the friends I have, drinking and cheering and tsismising between songs, you WILL understand.
ya see that? two of my favorite things from 2008 come together.
3. I Heart NewYorckelodeon. It should be cool enough driving and bonding with my long lost cousins along the Los Angeles Highways. But then I get to go to the Nickelodeon Kids Choice awards. And then in the middle of the burger, pizza and Sundae buffet I run into Emile Hirsch, Jack Black, Ice T, Jodie Foster, Abigail Breslin and Cameron Diaz. Going to New York to visit my best friend would be enough to put this on the list as well. But then I go to a Wong Kar Wai and Ang Lee talk. And the next day I run into Tiffany Limos and Michel Gondry, and he loans 20 dollars off of me. Then I get to go to his house and stalk his DVD collection. In the middle of all this I get to watch Anathallo, Minus the Bear, Wolf Eyes, Kimya Dawson and Spoon. Dayum.
2. +/- Versus Manila Versus was one of those bands that changed the way I looked at music, and their single "Double Suicide" is one of my favorite songs ever. +/-, on the other hand, is a current fave, and the last two albums have ranked in my yearly top 5. Knowing that, if you ever told me that one day I would be treating them to Sizzling Bulalo and Pares somewhere in Anonas I wouldn't have believed you. They were such wonderful people, with killer senses of humor to boot. If that weren't enough their sets were so tight and heartfelt that they immediately became one of my most memorable concert experiences.
This is +/- ending their set with my favorite song of theirs, Queen of Detroit. They asked us to start dancing onstage, which resulted in either hilarity or a showstopping, poignant moment in rock n' roll history.
1. Rakista was originally meant to be an indirect spinoff of our movie Rakenrol, instead it became an animal all its own. I was always aware that it was a very special thing and a fulfillment of a lifelong dream to a) create my own TV show with one of my best friends (diego), b)do whatever the hell i want with almost no intrusion whatsoever, c)get everyone from my beloved students (like king, zig and mihk) to my personal idols (RA and yvette) to some of my longtime best friends (like erwin, ramon and mikey) to write and direct, d) get two of my favorite songwriters of all time (mikey and diego mapa) to write the music, e)discover my own ramon bautista in wincy, f)work with such a great production team, g)make stories on national TV about very personal things like English teachers i fell in love with and the Eraserheads reunion and most especially h)manage to put in a murder mystery, ninjas and zombies (and cast good friends like JC, Wanggo and Audrey as them as well) into the plot as we went along. I remember telling Sharon and Pong at one point that I was really fulfilled with Rakista, and that I was just relishing every moment because I knew it would be too good to last.
Just like Penniless 2008. Happy New Year, y'all.
Current Music: MGMT - Electric Feel
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January 10th, 2008
01:55 am - Hello 2008, You Fucking Asshole
I think my shoot yesterday goes down in personal history as “saddest shooting day in my entire life.”
It wasn’t a hellish shoot. In fact, for the most part everyone had fun. It wasn’t stressful, either. I think the sorrow in the air had something to do with that. By the first hour everyone’s frame of mind, including mine, was probably like this: “ah hell. Let’s just take whatever and when our time’s up that’s what we have.” No tempers flared, no mean words were exchanged. Everybody was just – sad.
Why? I’d like to say “the usual reasons”, except whenever “the usual reasons” happen to friends they become the most heartbreaking things in the world. Someone was on the brink of depression because his relationship was on the rocks, someone’s family member was very sick, someone else was just consumed by depression, understanding what happened but just wishing she got over it right away. I’m not a big fan of destiny, but it was so weird that this specific day everyone’s world seemed to be crashing around them.
The painful part of it all was that most of the people involved were in front of the camera, so when we’d shoot it was fun and jumping and “performance level” and all that. Then the playback would stop, and people would let go of their instruments, sit down by themselves and just get lost. Two of the band members were the only ones I ever looked at as an older brother and sister, and I’d seen them go through this eight years ago, and wished to God they’d never have to go through it again.
What was really great, though, was that towards the end of the shoot we all kind of found comfort in the general wretchedness. We made jokes about it. We were at a point where we couldn’t really care less, so we started pretending that we were shooting a music video for Glenn Frey’s classic, “The Heat is On”. We all started showing each other 2 Girls 1 Cup and by the time MTV came to interview us we were all madmen, saying that the website was the main inspiration for the video and that all the kids should check it out. At the end of the night we all told each other, “hey look! We’re all together again, just like the old days! Let’s bring back the radio show!”
Shortly after the shoot I drove Mikey to a meeting he was supposed to have with Ciudad. On the way we were listening to In Rainbows, and I pointed out how I thought U2 was baduy when I was a kid because they were such an old man band, and now Radiohead is as old as U2 was then. Mikey, who’d just turned 27, pointed out that the length of time we were from 40 is the same length of time we were from second year high school, when Ciudad was formed. Quite disturbing.
I decided to sit in at the Ciudad meeting, and as usual it ended up being a non-meeting. We spent most of the time gossiping about our friends. We all cheered about Mikey being the new Mong and encouraged him to romance all the ladehhs. Also, once again, 2 girls 1 cup was brought out for everyone to view. How that horrible piece of cinema can bring people together so much, I don’t know.
It was just as it was, 13 years ago: I’d go practice with Ciudad and then head over to NU and hang with my friends. It was weird because at that most depressing time in our lives I realized that I’d known these people for half my life already. I wasn’t with friends – I was with family. And no matter how much shit we may go through in the coming years, 13 years down the line I still hope I can go home to them.
I remember, during the debacle that was Super Noypi, Mihk and I making a pact that the next year would be “drama-free 2007”. It seems we brought all the demons out by making that pact, because 2007 eventually became one of the most drama-filled years of our (and many other people’s) lives. So we made a pact that 2008 would be drama-full, hoping to pull a fast one on God with reverse psychology. The second week of 2008 has just started, and already we have this. Looks like we jinxed it again.
Except this time, for some weird reason, I have a feeling that everything will be ok.
Current Music: Seam - Two Is Enough
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January 4th, 2007
11:09 am - 2006
my new year's resolution was this: 2006 will be the year i worked the hardest. and luckily enough, it was. 2 movies, 2 fashion shows, 3 music videos, 2 store outlets, writing for 2 magazines, the radio show, managing Ciudad (which, much to my dismay, i had to quit after 12 years of doing so) and the film class. no wonder i almost had a breakdown. it feels like the year ended so quickly, but at the same time a lot of the events this year seems like they occured ages ago.
that having been said, things haven't been as good since 2003. it's nice to really be working again, and it's good to know some things stay the same. like having a top 10 list at the end of every year --
10. Cueshe ?!? yes, my friends, believe it or not working with Cueshe was one of the ten best things of 2006! At first I treated it like a joke, and then I truly, madly, krayzily did fall in love with them. Also, it's hard to admit this but Back to Me is one of my favorite vids I’ve ever done.
9. Rock Ng Republika, a concert/fashion show I directed featuring the works of Twinkle Ferraren, iloveyou, Finina and Swee, Analog Soul and THE YQR, was something I didn’t appreciate at the time I was doing it. Probably because I was busy with number 4. In the end it became a total mess, with me having to actually co-host with Sam Oh (who I love to death btw), Yvonne having to take over as floor director, and Erwin Romulo and Mads finding themselves as a PAs. It was anarchy. It was so much fun.
8. Pinoy Big Brother. Lovely. The only thing that really kept me entertained and sometimes on the edge of my seat this year. From Dulce’s breakdown to Rustom and his butterfly running out of that closet to John Prats getting waxed, I was there to watch and cheer the housemates on! Of course, we must never, ever, ever forget my favorite contestant and how he amused me so. Walk by faith, mah frenz.
7. Ystyle Anniversary Fashion Show. Dude. I got to work with Amanda Griffin, AND Nicole Hernandez.
6. Coachella 2006 + 2 bonus rounds. The bands weren't half as great as 2004's, but crashing on a hotel room floor, eating in Palm Springs amidst purple ladies and stealing signs on the street with Lille, Mikey, TL and Annette was just great wholesome fun. We got to see Madonna, for Chrissakes, and i saw Sleater-Kinney for the second and last time. A few days after we got to have a chat with Kyle and Caithlyn rockstarcrush from Rainer Maria, and now that band's broken up too. Good music, good times.
5. Short Film Class 2006. which was scary at first because for the first time in a long time i had a totally new batch with no repeat students. and this was the "hipster class", with the kids sporting emo haircuts, listening to indie rock, being up-and-coming rockstars and being adept at ukay apparel. it was very different, and very fun.
4. TFM, which isn't actually such a great thing that happened this year but probably the most important, aside from being the most heartbreaking and traumatic experience of my life. if i keep telling myself "it's for the kids" maybe i'll feel better, but in the meantime it's good to know that i'll have fond memories of SParky, John, Jen and the rest of the cast. It was also a real honor and pleasure working with people who stood by me to the end, despite no pay and shit treatment. so thank God for people like ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) drywalland roziemeister. you made my year.
3. BANGKOK 100/Franz Ferdinand Singapura It was unbelievable enough chatting with Brian Molko and convincing Franz Ferdinand to say Fluxxekakke. what made things extra special was the fact that we were walking the streets of Singapore with such an unlikely yet amazingly fun bunch-- Kiko, Niña, Claire, Belle, Jason and Jade. as if that weren't enough, i got to hear my favorite song live. Fluxxekakke.
2. Huwag Kang Lilingon Episode 1: Uyayi aka X-treme Horror was just great. it was so exhilarating being on a movie set again, bonding with a crew and telling a story ( a ricky lee story at that). it was a strict genre film too, which was a challenge. also, it's nice to feel support from a studio, despite all the disagreements you may have shared. and hey, going to work with Anne Curtis every day didn't hurt either.
1.Blow-Up Babies. at first filled with headaches and konsumisyon, everything was worth it the minute we took pictures of our first baby client. i hoped for a successful first business, but what i didn't expect was that i also got to (insert piano music, slow clapping and one tear running down left cheek here) meet great new friends like bullfunkee, kurdapyo, perky_pearl and frustrated_siga. the only downside of all of this is that we'd have to hear fucking crazy frog every day.
post of the year: i'm giving you one guess. although this, the post right after, came a close second.
my resolution for this year? focus on things that make me happy. this is the year of Rakenrol,my friends. check ya later :)
Current Music: The Sundays - On Earth
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January 8th, 2006
12:24 pm - 2005
2005 came, and then it went. you know how people would always complain, "i didn't feel the Christmas spirit this year :(" (well of course there was no sad face icon when they'd say it but they would usually say it-- with a sad face)? in 2005 i didn't even get to feel not feeling the Christmas spirit. and before you know it it's Jan 8, 2006 and you think to yourself "hey! whuhappen? i haven't done my livejournal yearend thingie yet!
so i looked at my appointment whatsit, and found entries such as the following --
-SCRIPT MEETING FOR RAID
-SCRIPT MEETING FOR MANG JOSE
-SCRIPT MEETING FOR HUWAG KANG LILINGON
-SCRIPT MEETING FOR THAT REGAL FILM WITH JADE AND NED
-SCRIPT MEETING FOR RAKENROL WITH DIEGO
-MEET WITH VIVA ON WHETHER FINALS SHOULD BE REVIVED OR NOT
and so out of those 6 (count 'em, 6!) projects, which are in production or have been released? nothing! it feels like i wasted my life this year. lots of plans, though,and hopefully all of them will be made real in 2006. alas, as promised, 2005 was indeed a better year than 2004 anyway.
2005 was the year...
- I got to actually work with my childhood crushes/idols like Pops Fernandez, Martin Nievera, Gary V and Lea Salonga
- We decided to put up a business (which you will all see in Gateway! soon!)
- I found out I had high cholesterol and triglycerides and therefore had to start working out like crazy!
- I flirted with television and did stuff for Pinoy Big Brother and Starstruck, among other things
- I finally got to do some ads for big companies. whew.
- I stopped having a radio show then started again because it was just too damn addicting
- I, mr peace and love (backstabbing allowed), actually assaulted someone
- I started writing again, for publications, short stories, film and even some grafiction work (i love how they just keep making up terms that really just mean COMICS)
- I met some of my personal heroes, was with one in an elevator and didn't realize it was him, and missed Wong Kar-Wai by a fucking day
- the Philippine Movie Industry kinda died, having Philippine Cinema rise again from its ashes
aside from that, things that happened in the world; tsunamis, hurricanes, political crises, tomkat, just affirmed my fears that the world is indeed ending. who once said that the universe is going down a vortex; that's why everything's moving so much faster? we just got through the first half of the millennium's first decade. think about it too much and you'll actually get the shivers. but let's end with the top 10 things that made 2005 worth all the idle time...
10. rockestra/orchestronica/wolfmann,because he rules
9. comm class/student films/motherfucking spazzes
8. 25/pixies night/fluxxekkake!
7. singapore 1/toy shoppin/ singapore 2
6. LOST/ 4 8 15 16 23 42/walkabout
5. let's fun/pretentious like you/krayzileh!
4. moving/the room that is never left/the wildlife
3. it's like a magic/homaygaz! his a gay/pop in the disc, see what comes out
2. bangkok w lia/pat pong magic tricks/chris doyle
1. gaimanila!/the tent/batman fucking joker up the ass
my favorite post of the year: this, just because seeing you all brings tears to my eyes. awww (and don't forget the precursor!)
Current Music: Bjork - Unison
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January 2nd, 2005
05:14 am - 2004
2004 brought an end to the string of good years that was 2001-2003. It’s not that it totally sucked; a lot of the time things were great, but when things got bad they really went to hell. This applies especially to December, where for a while there it actually felt like the world was going to end.
2004 was the year...
- I voted.
- I decided to become a whore to advertising, but what a joke that turned out to be.
- I taught two classes I'm very proud of. Some of my students are making excellent music videos, getting exploited by ABS -CBN in the process. One of them, Sherad Sanchez, has a film going to Rotterdam! (and the insane thing about it is that he didn't even bother submitting, Alexis gave in a rough cut I showed him +beams+)
- I didn't make a movie, and realized I miss it like hell.
- Diego and I got bored and decided to go on air again and in good old fashion got into a lot of trouble.
- I promised my dad to "get serious" and try to go to business school so he'd quit smoking.
- I broke my code of non-blogging and put up this monstrosity and met/got reacquainted with a lot of you folks.
- foreign rock bands started coming to Manila again, and they were all blah.
- I had my very first comic story published by Ramon.
- I was able to show my movie to people from different countries and have great experiences in those countries in the process.
- I saw a lot of relationships end. Some got me infuriated, most got me depressed.
- I faced my mortality with my gout attack and my grandfather's passing.
All in all, I'm very glad to see the year go. We're all still alive, however, and that's something to be thankful for. When Myrene was host of Not Radio she'd have all of us submit our top ten things about the year, so out of habit...
10. Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
9. Being counted as one vote, even if around 3 million other votes were imaginary
8. RA and me going on Star Circle Quest and then subsequently GETTING CUT OUT (oh God, i never posted about this did I? it will come)
7. Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind
6. Cape Town, South Africa
5. Taipei and Golden Horse and Faye Wong and Story of The Youth Techno
4. Dylan and Friends
3. taking Ciudad's second album around and turning 10 with the band
2. NYC: Keka
1. Coachella 2004, most importantly: the Pixies.
Finally, I just have to link my favorite blog entry of the year. It's not my own, don't worry, but Mario's. It's about one of my favorite people in the world and I am linking to it because I want the fucker to finish it.
There's this trashy indie film starring Gina Gershon called "Prey For Rock N' Roll" and it's filled with trashy glam rock music that'll make Jem and The Holograms gush. And the most trashy song went like this... "they sayyy it's lonelyyy at the toppppp, well let me tell you man it's worse at the bottommmmm".
it's already the second day of 2005. nowhere to go but up.
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