analog

Just purchased my very first vinyl record today, Carole King’s Tapestry. A really great album, if I may say so myself. I think I’ll be spared from any embarrassment some 10, 20 years from now when people ask me what my first vinyl was (as opposed to my first CD, which shall forever remain a mystery).

While this album being a mere local pressing, I got sales-talked into believing that there’s no significant difference between an imported and local LP if it was manufactured in the 70s. I think I’ll believe it when I listen to the record tonight. But then again, at 150 pesos, how can I complain?

we came for the wings

After being the topic of endless conversations for the past two weeks, my friends and I finally made the trek last night to far away MOA and had dinner at Hooters.

The place was packed to the brim, but as we arrived at around 9pm, the wait time took shorter than what I had originally had anticipated.

We ordered their famous chicken wings, among others, and shared a 20 piece platter among the four of us. Get the breaded wings though as the naked wings was rather forgettable.

Food was a bit on the pricey side though, but generally, as the servings were generous and quite tasty, it wasn’t too much of a downer.

Service, as expected was highly commendable. The Hooters girls were engaging and game, singing and dancing every so often. We also told the girls to sing and dance for my friend R, whom we told was leaving to work in another country. To which they actually with much enthusiasm did, both to the surprise and delight of R.

Overall, it was a fun experience, a great place for drinking and hanging out with the boys.

foreign tocino

It has been almost two months since I came back home from Singapore, so I was surprised to still find half a kilo of bakkwa in my fridge last night.

Disclaimer: Not my picture

If memory serves me right, I brought home 7 kilos of this tocino-like treats from Lim Chee Guan and gave a way about 3 kilos worth to family and friends. The rest were easily devoured in a span of, oh I don’t know, two weeks.

I wasn’t really expecting much from these leftovers last night owing to their unfresh two-months-in-storage state. But boy, 25 seconds in the microwave really did wonders. The meat still came out fragrant, tender and juicy. Just like brand new.

Yo!

It’s no secret, but like most kids my generation, I did start out liking rap. My first CD purchase was a forgettable one, a sort of dance remix compilation done by this DJ duo quite popular in the early 90s. That’s why I envy people who’s first CD purchase was say, something like GNR’s Appetite for Destruction.

Anyway, it was late on a Saturday night, and somehow things just sort of took a life of its own, and I began downloading old school 80’s rap. Public Enemy, De La Soul, NWA, etcetera etcetera. Dunno how long I’ll be keeping these in my iTunes library though.

So yes, will probably stay in a hip hop mood for the next few days, till the next The National comes along, stays with me and blows me away.

I didn’t realize it was payday yesterday, and coupled with the fact that today is a holiday, traffic was a real bitch in Ortigas. Plus, it’s Ironman’s opening night, so a lot of people flocked out to catch that.

But Ironman, Schmironman. I went out and caught Ploning instead.

I’ve been meaning to catch this Judy Ann Santos starrer since way back, but 15 minutes into the picture, I thought I made the proverbial mistake of inviting friends over to watch some totally hard-to-digest movie. I felt it was trying hard to be Gondry-esque, with intersecting plots and non-linear story telling. I also thought I would be in for a hard time when Tagalog subtitles were shown on screen, a language which I’m ashamed to admit, feel less comfortable in reading.

But I felt more welcome as the film slowly progressed, and the intertwinings that worked its way were slowly revealed. During the first half, I had hoped that the ending will tie it all beautifully, and by the film’s conclusion, I am glad that it did.

I’ve been hearing things about the slow decline of the local film industry; about how filmmakers are afraid to make un-masa films, fearful of the fact that the people wouldn’t be able to comprehend them. To some extent, I still agree. I think Ploning will be eaten alive by When Love Begins, the Aga Mulach - Anne Curtis starrer. But while I believe that releasing a film of this caliber is a huge risk, it is still a risk worth taking.

—

After the movie, we hung out at a nearby Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf. I felt in the mood for something different, and wanted to try something new apart from the usual Genmaicha that I usually have.

I glanced over their counter and thought the ensaymada seemed mightily appealing. And the guy in front of me had hot chocolate, so I thought that I might as well have that too.

So, is it me, or am I the only person who doesn’t know about the ensaymada and hot chocolate combo? Damn that was real good nightcap, even bordering on perfection.

taken out

It was a case of going out in style.

Being on the short stack last night, I thought I caught a lucky break when the turn revealed a full house for me. Sixes on queens. So I tried to play as wisely as I could, check raising and all the babble that comes with trapping an opponent. E, however, wouldn’t have none of it, and fought till the end. He called my all-in move easily, and I still thought I had the game won.

“O, show of hands.”

“Fuck.”

E had a full house as well. Sixes on kings.

Damnit.

—

There should be a law where people shouldn’t be allowed to buy CDs before they hit 25 years old. Society should at least allow people to mature first before starting their music collection. In general, humans should be saved from the embarrassment of having Limp Bizkit lined up next to the Led Zeppelin albums on their CD racks. Or Chumbawamba next to the Clash.

But if you’re 25 and still prefer bubblegum pop, then, that’s not my problem anymore.

After promising myself not to buy CD’s for the rest of the year after the great Singapore binge-shopping debacle, I still went out and bought a handful of CD’s last Thursday. One of them being Let’s Get It On by Marvin Gaye. It was a cool and suave record, something I can see myself playing over and over countless nights in the future.

Anyway, the music of Marvin Gaye reminded me of the film High Fidelity. Not because Barry (Jack Black, not me) sang Let’s Get It On during the film’s final sequence, but because that’s the movie where I found out Marvin Gaye’s pop shot him.

So I went out and watched High Fidelity again for the 456th time.

I just recently realized that High Fidelity is my movie version of Sgt. Pepper, wherein I’m excited at the thought that with every viewing, there is the possibility of discovering something new and different.

Am just saying.

I want someone to eat cheese with

I had a couple of choices last night, but they run contrary to my plans of staying at home. Hahaha. Actually, there’s more than a handful of records that I wanted to listen to, plus I also wanted to catch the film that I had just finished downloading before hitting the bed early on a Saturday night.

Sounds like a plan noh?

So I saw Jeff Garlin’s I Want Someone to Eat Cheese With, about an overweight and frustrated actor, struggling with the realities of life going nowhere. He is a man clearly in need of acceptance, which is obvious with his frustrations of wanting to love and be loved.

I thought that perhaps, with a catchy title and being a low budget film set in present day along with its themes of discontent would make it more grounded and real. But sadly, I found myself slightly (not completely) unattached with the movie; I was unable to relate with the film’s characters and its subplots. I think the film just suffers from not knowing what it wanted to be.

Well, I didn’t hate it per se. I thought it was good, although just not great. I liked Sarah Silverman in it, she’s funny. The film was entertaining while it lasted, and thought it’d make for a great date movie. Watching the film wasn’t a total waste, but in retrospect, I’d have to say that this was not a film that you’d have to go out and catch.

Jollibee rhymes with SMB

Conceptually, it sounds gravy. At least, that’s what I thought. But trust me, Chicken Joy doesn’t go well with San Mig Light. Nor does Burger Steak, for that matter.

A huge part of this experiment wasn’t for pure purposes of justification, of whether or not my theory on SMB going well with Jollibee holds true. It was, in fact, just a good story waiting to be told.

The thrill lies in the fact that how many people have actually tried bringing in a can of SMB inside a Jollibee chain. Guerilla-esque, we thought, but really, how juvenile can one actually get?

We bought the beers from a nearby convenience store and smuggled them into the resto. We even had this conversation of whether or not they would be kicking us out from the place. That’s how rebellious our stick-it-to-the-man selves wanted to be, but in the end, they just let us be. Duh.

So that’s the end of my experiment. If there’s any consolation, at least, now I know that it’s really not that great.

I seriously, seriously thought that I was one year younger than what I actually am. It wasn’t until I viewed my profile in this social network earlier today that I realized otherwise. And to think I’ve been counting wrong for the past six months.

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Death Cab for Cutie’s Narrow Stairs. Out on 5/13. Can’t wait.