The Master's final verse

A happy battle finally reaching its conclusion
With a final bow wane in the horizon to emerge

Eraserheads The Final Set: The End of an Era

With the symbolic burning and smashing of the Sticker Happy Piano came into sight as one of the highlights of the Ultraelectromagnetic concert last March 7, 2009 in front of sea of Eheads fans at Mall of Asia concert grounds, one can’t help but wonder what such act imply—Beginning of an end or an emphasis to an already done era of mantra. The music that not only made a generation of youth rocked and rolled with and crooned over to emotional submission, but the angst anthem of a generation that defied the slacker stereotyped puberty stage to be endowed with the soundtrack of its very own. In the latter part of the “Huling El Bimbo” performance, Ely Buendia, the iconic frontman of the legendary band poured lighter fluid on the piano that not only represented the band’s craftiness and knack for musical recalibration– burned and jumped on it as if to smash any hope of a total reunion of a quartet that spearheaded the band explosion of the 90’s. It was an emotional sight to behold, especially for someone who have grown loving not just the band but the consciousness- effacing effect of its music that learned to survive the changing of times and genre preferences—now only some seconds away to be completely done.


It kind of gave you some hope at first, especially when Ely belted out with the underground fave “Walang Nagbago” , the second piece of the Final Set foretelling an afterthought to their storied career that nothing has changed somehow. With Ely and Raimund Marasigan sharing vocals and playing killer tunes to the beat of “Alkohol” with the crowd cheering to again see both enjoying times, like the old days, unlike the ugly rift that triggered the divorce of the band. You can even see them smirk to one another in a candid display that no love lost for blood brothers. It’s a pairing that not even at the magnitude of a Guy and Pip like tandem can undermine. The youth anthem “Pare Ko”, though carried out a bit laid back, still carried the same invectives that appealed to their ever adoring fans and irked public officials and infinitesimal-brained conservatives alike. So much the pleasure of the concert that all throughout, we wished the band has been sincere enough off the “Fine Time” lyrics, “I hope we could spend more time together, few hours better than ever.” If only for eternity.


Marcus Adoro, the Surfernando himself toyed with his reggae rendition of “Huwag mo nang Itanong” using a Hello Kitty lead guitar. Marcus performed the same piece two years ago during the LivELY benefit concert. It may have strayed from the original rendition, but it sure did draw some laughs and applause in lightening up the mood. Always as Marcus has been. How could I forget that damn Eheads grunt s that way back second year high school, we’re more lyrically familiar with than Lupang Hinirang? And what can Buddy Zabala not do? Already imprinted his name on the upper echelons of Pinoy Rock as member of two legendary Pinoy Bands, the other being the Dawn, Buddy would’ve shamed the career of either Piolo Pascual and the untalented Richard Gutierrez. Whose cool demeanor stabilizes the foundation of the band—much like his bass guitar stabilizes their brand of music.


And as if life’s continuous to smuggle us some of that paradox, the Eheads’ reunion for the second time mourned another influential person to the band’s existence. Lisette Buendia passed away before the initial reunion gig that grieved not just the dotting son Ely but the entire band and crew that even lead to his exhaustion. And here’s another loss in the person of Francis Magalona, many had considered the Fifth Eraserhead with collaboration and friendship ties with the band members especially Ely. Francis M. is supposed to make an appearance during the “Superproxy” performance but has to be scrapped off due to his medical condition. Thank God they didn’t bring in some crappy rapper to work on the rap verse of Superproxy, contrary to the title itself as the late Francis M. is the only one capable of doing that latter part—a fitting showcase of respect for another music icon that transcended from the hip hop genre to the Pinoy Rock.


Was it “Hard to Believe”? Remembering them a decade ago that they somehow wanted to be like the Apo Hiking Society, for their enduring commitment and partnership, of which them band would want to emulate. Oh, how time flies! Some years they called it quits via some cryptic text message. But their break up, though seem like a life time, has given us rooms to outgrow the feeling of being in “Alapaap” to the dearth of preference thus left us asking, “Kailan”. Kailan ka uli hahagkan ng musikang nagpadaloy ng iyong dugo sa ‘twing hihinto ang puso mo sa awiting si Ely, Buddy, Raimund at Marcus lang ang may gawa?


Thank you David Lynch for making such a crappy movie for it produced a name we would be loving and passing to the next generations to come. And by thanking you, we can only afford to ignore in google search some match for Eraserhead: David Lynch. But who are you anyway?


The band teased with a last hurrah, to again regroup as Ely signaled “Three for the round”. And distrustful as we are, after Ely burned the only surviving Eheads memento thought it’s a wrap for the night and got ourselves stuck near the exit area and just cursed the hell out of it as “Ligaya” exited from the amplifiers. Who are we to complain anyway? Always the Ligaya they brought us with, we can only close our eyes, hum to the “Gagawin ko ang lahat pati ang thesis mo” like saying we’ll do whichever we know to please all of you, to give you your money’s worth. It’s not about the money anymore, it’s all about appreciation. No, it’s love actually. It’s love that survived the menace of fanaticism, political stupefaction, intellectual property piracy, Ely’s health, and death of friends and loved ones. All of the sufferings of a regular Filipino which didn’t excuse even them from experiencing. After all, their music reflected who we are, what we do, and as a whole— what we aspire for.

When the concert “really” came to an end, I felt like a kicking thing within, worst maybe than breaking up with someone as the band formally strummed to their last track of the night, a night, if not only for an economical bullshit, would’ve paid the VIP ticket to get a closer glimpse of my fave fab four and to pay respect to the dying seconds of them performing as one and only Eraserheads.

FFUgay

Meltdown only occurs if you allow heat get in the way.

Allow me to make all the available excuses for not visiting my own home for the past 3 months or so, and permission to be forgiven by my solitary reader, Eda Belisario and I know none of the shit what made me lose focus on a supposed daily accounts that is a BLOG ENTRY!
Well, some of the thoughts which swirled around my lousy brain are either too spoiled to even warrant an attention or was made too vague by lack of follow up details. You see, Rick Astley made some good mantra that we're born to make mistakes. While I won't allow you to bash my skull, the blog site is now open for some hate comments. Not necessarily a hatred to the contents of this blog site but for the benefit of washing the sins, I'll hand over the opportunity to all of you. Enjoy!








Well, not so huge space but just as I thought. No one really got mad with me not writing anything here. You know the reason why? None of these shits give a damn.
Well, it's nice at the very least to be back and by golly, I really missed those issues from our regular motherhumpers and I know you all believed I couldn't have written those any better- provided i had the stamina to even think.

By the way the title of this entry, in case you wonder, has no meaning on this entry.Just coined it coz I thought it's cool.

Off Pacquiao, Marky Cielo, and this bitchy tactless daughter of your 500 peso bill

Sunday was a day of triumph...

Vamos a terminarlo!- Ignacio “Nacho” Beristain, Oscar Dela Hoya’s celebrated hall of fame trainer signaling the stoppage of the one-sided “The Dream Match”. Pound-for-pound King Manny “ Pacman” Pacquiao scored an 8th round TKO over The Golden Boy Dela Hoya on a night the heir apparent chased out the "has been" of the boxing world to retirement. This seemed to be a third world country far east winning a world war against a predominant super power tale like of a story, an unprecedented handling of the mantle to the new king of the boxing hierarchy. And for a long moment still, Pacquiao’s ring exploit reminded us what a fighting heart a Filipino posses that made each and every one of us worthy of the world’s adulation.

It was an awesome display of domination, one that would etch in eternity to our very senses in the next centuries to come how an erstwhile unassuming pan de sal boy rose to the ranks of boxing to defeat and dominate his proud and bemedalled rival to submission. Not your ordinary opponent but someone who breathe the sports as if boxing was his middle name. Despite winning so big, he never forgot to let his Nike shoes kiss the ground, reminded that after all, he’s still as Filipino as we are—only an immortal embodiment of our very own bravery. Even giving a last respect to his befallen opponent, a trait none of those publicity hungry officials who went on with him to snatch that glory of his for their own interest—That’s Pinoy for you.
For all the cockiness he’s been branded with before, no one can deny that when he shows his humility, that’s a Filipino for you giving samples of modesty in spite of greatness.

Aren’t you proud of being a Pinoy at least Sunday?

and mourning…

And there of course was the death of a teeny bopper, who made news shortly after Pacquiao TKOed Dela Hoya. Allegedly a victim of Sudden Unexpected Death Syndrome (SUDS) or bangungot on street terminologies, Marky Cielo passed away during slumber. As no definite medical confirmation would attest to the real cause of his death, I’ll have to leave the term, in the mean time, as the supposed culprit to his early demise. Cielo, a reality-but-you-already-knew-the-winner-two weeks-before show champion was seen laying motionless on his room as he’s supposed to be informed of his appointment that day. An Igorot like me, during his showbiz career, even went to his grassroots in Mountain Province to spread awareness how minorities are being displaced off their own domain. I may not be a fan of his brand of artistry but sure his passing away did matter at the very reason he did an exemplary act of progressing to the modernity of life without shunning away from his heritage. May God bless his soul.

…and of course a foul play by a certified bitch.

Now while the untimely death of Cielo is being discussed on air by three hosts of a biz talk show, this bitchy, tactlessly idiotic host who calls her husband the best player in the Philippines (in dreamland maybe) was caught nonchalantly laughing at the sight of an expensive jewelry of her co host in the midst of the show’s expression of grief for a lost colleague. Emblazoned by her irritating perkiness on cam, this moron didn’t have the self-respect to at least shut her bedeviled mouth to oblivion while at someplace in the country there’s a mother and a father pondering on thoughts of how they’ll be able to get by after a young man’s passing away. What a classless act, no an idiotic act. And to think lots of equally idiotic people bought her crap of crying for all of her misfreewheeling before. What the fuck is wrong with this bitch, and why a TV network such as ABS-CBN bankrolls her borderline nonsensical blabbers on air.

Does she owe Cielo’s family an apology? No. She owes to live by on the scum of her personality and the ideals of her land grabbing family.
Pacquiao’s conquered opponent (Dela Hoya) needs to hang up his gloves and bid goodbye to the sport that made him a household name. as for Kris, she needs to hang herself to at least pay herself some dues, run away from the scene that made her a perennial laughing stock.

GMA-7, Solar Sports, milking too much off Dela Hoya- Pacquiao bout

What a day of triumph for the entire nation upon seeing in action our very own Manny “Pacman” Pacquiao demolished one of the most recognizable face in the history of boxing, The Golden Boy Oscar Dela Hoya in a battle of supposed mismatch proven accurate but with an improbable twist. What a day for both Atty. Felipe Gozon (GMA-7) and Wilson Tieng (Solar Sports) for bathing their filthy selves of the revenues of “The Dream Match”. Congratulations!

I felt bad for myself, and so with most Filipinos who anticipated this bout at the confines of their free/cable TV living room—or at worst, at someone’s boob tube set to watch the National Fist (Pambansang Kamao) upstaged a legend. Wonder why some people, despite the sum of money their supposed to splurge, opted to storm into theaters just to watch the megabuck fight it’s because GMA-7 and Solar Sports are borderline crocodile (crocodile in its most figurative definition as someone who would suck up the hell out of you) and downright devious exploiting each and every fight of Pacquiao. Wonder no more. For those who watched it through their TV sets, sure they can relate to what the heck I’m ranting about. And for sure it also caught their ire learning the news of Pacquiao’s drubbing of Dela Hoya beforehand they saw Karylle sang our National Anthem. Am I exaggerating? No. Try this on for size, Both Dela Hoya and Pacquiao would square off on top of the ring for one good round and on the intermission, TV commercials would go round robin. All of them.

And boy, my friend Ted has put up the near perfect narrative of such:

“At the end of each three-minute round, the TV station commences with 15 minutes of inane ads, often repeated only minutes apart. For this fight, the station cut to commercials even after each of the three national anthems and Michael Buffer’s introduction. The products being pitched are a mix of everything the common Filipino could want: beer, brandy, fast food, multivitamins, feed for your fighting cock, weight loss pills, car batteries, courier services and even some substance that will fix leaks in your tin roof. Most of the viewers who have tuned in happen to have tin sheet roofs, just like the tricycle stand. And in the Philippines, nearly every tin-sheet roof leaks.”
Ted Lerner, Ring Magazine

What the fucking fucker is wrong with you, Gozon and Tieng? Aren’t you fat enough that you may no longer get into your car? Give your fucking ass a fucking break!
Gozon, Tieng, and all the sponsors of the event should be ashamed of themselves for simply exploiting this juncture of national celebration. Too much of your capitalist’s greed. Pacquiao is such a national treasure and his fights are to be considered national events. Him fighting on top of the canvass can clear up the streets from heavy traffic. Watching him alone will give burglars, kidnappers, corrupt officials their share of holiday as you would expect them to get their eyes glued to the screen as well—rather than strutting their usual bedeviled selves. He can make truce of the warring ideologues and the continually separating/ alienating societal classification. We don’t need these fucking capitalists dictate what we should get from this type of holiday.




Photo Credit: Yahoo! Sports and some excerpts from Ted Lerner's article in Ring MAgazine.

Pacquiao-Dela Hoya: Dream Match of Monstrous Proportions

In the eve of December 6, 2008 (December 7 in the Philippines), the best of the best haymakers will take the center stage on what to be the biggest fight of the year. Pound-for-pound king Manny “Pacman” Pacquiao of the Philippines will try to stamp his name on the boxing world pitted against the most popular boxing commodity, the pay-per-view king Oscar “The Golden Boy” Dela Hoya bidding farewell on the boxing world but not without this bout that shall further cement his stature on the upper echelons of the boxing world’s demigods. Taunts and provocations had all paved the way to the staging of the Dream Match that will transcend to the genre of the undersized against the huge, David versus Goliath, and basically a match that doesn’t seem like matched at all.

It can be recalled that HBO’s grizzled sportscaster Larry Merchant quipped waning with hope to witness a fight between this year’s pound-for-pound ranked number one against the boxing’s top draw, and as if the two about-to-be protagonists living with the hype and acting to grant the wish of the old fella, the December 6 bout was signed, sealed and about to be delivered on pay-per-view thru HBO. While the hyping machine upped the ante, and as nearly as the first day of sale sold out all of the venue tickets, the match in itself took a lot of beating as it almost didn’t materialize due to some glitches on how much to be paid to whom and how much will the lion is willing to distribute his share. And it took two-time trainer of the year Freddie Roach to provoke Dela Hoya stating that he could no longer pull the trigger thus giving reason to the Golden Boy to pursue Pacman.

Pacquiao, on his part, will be dealing with the biggest fight of his life—not to mention his biggest paycheck to date and potential revenues off pay-per-view shares. Jumping from a measly 112 pounder when he began his career to fighting Dela Hoya at 147 lbs, the Pacman will be on a definite unchartered territory. The uncertain impact of Pacquiao’s hand speed and iron-coated fist to carry on a much heavier division will be tested no end on fight night. And this matter-of-factly issue of his had odds makers favoring Dela Hoya a wide 2-1 favorite. But Roach, wistful of the mere fact that he has trained Dela Hoya on the past is banking on the fact that Dela Hoya is past his prime and to put more emphasis to his running gag, he can no longer pull the trigger.

Dela Hoya on the other hand, took a barrage of criticism for taking this fight with Pacquiao. Accused of just doing this all for the money, in large part of the fact Pacquiao is way undermatched in terms of reach and heft. But the Golden Boy, may be business oriented, sure has other things in mind in stating that he wanted to fight the best of the best to be the very best and it so happened that the person the description was referred to was Pacquiao.

But critics and enthusiasts alike are all unanimous that this bout will be an epic battle worthy of everyone’s attention as both fighters try to salvage the sagging popularity of boxing and making it as intriguing and as entertaining as before. Climbing on the ring with their nations behind, this will be more than an individual battle as anyone would deem this Dream Match is just as illusory as its title implies to be.

FFUgay

Oh... I'm sorry!

Promises are made to be broken...And when you do, please make a valid excuse!

Well, yeah! A perfect way to cap yer first week of blogging, eh? But as obligatory as it sounds, I know for sure how to make up for the sorry cancellation of our WT10 or Weekly Tough 10. While I have no plans at all to make this week's edition as Weekly Tough 20, but rest assured to double the angst, if not the antsy-pantsy of my beloved 10's of the week.

Well, I'm sure you might want to read some of the encouraging comments of people that had read Poetic License Renewed! and I would even buck down because of the enormous support these people have for me. Kudos for the people that made it in to my list:

How do you do? I am reading your blog, I realized that I have never really known you. I was amazed with way you conversed with the "Big Boss". Keep me posted when He replies.

(Commenting on the blog entry "Told my Prayers)

Eda Belisario, Singapore.

Eda by the way was the last gal I'm with inside a church, again, not that I'm proud of it, but just so you know the history in between.


I have read it na! Ang ganda pare!

Alex Almonte, Saudi Arabia

Alex is a schoolmate of mine which I met on our alumni site but unfortunately haven't had the chance to meet him personally.


Kikz, paano ba mag sign up sa blog mo?

Robert a.k.a. Tweety Bird, was my former agent who has this knack of looking at the mirror posing like he meant it. Then out of fuckin nowhere, he'd vaingloriously exclaim, "Anlakas ng dating mo!"

For the benefit of all, I even attached his pic:







Wow! Gawa mo naman ako description sa year book namin!

Catherine Garcia, is my girlfriend who's about to finish her second degree and seems upbeat of the money-making prospect of her course.