Filed under: Abba said it so brilliantly | Tags: advent call, karl roy, michael angelo, P.O.T.
“Mahal, patay na raw si Karl Roy,” sabi ko kay Michael.
“Ow? Bakit? Ano ikinamatay?”
“Hindi pa sigurado e, pero sabi nung kaibigan ko, may tubig daw sa baga?”
“Ahhhh. Parang ganun din yata nangyari kay Edwin.”
“Nakakalungkot talaga… Naalala ko pa yung mga napuntahan kong mga concert na nandun din siya. Nakakagulat.”
“Ahhhh.”
“Pero maraming beses nang na-stroke yun e. Nagkaroon pa nga yun dati ng fund-raising concert para makatulong sa pagpapagamot sa kanya. Nakakalungkot talaga…”
“Ahhhh,” sagot uli ni Michael, “eh sino ba yung si Karl Roy na yun?”#
Filed under: Abba said it so brilliantly, Please, it's more than just a piece of celluloid, Thankful for Work Nonetheless | Tags: baz luhrmann, film, pelikula, showbiz, UP
I think you owe me an explanation. I think it was you, sir, who said that it was okay to not know what to do with your life “because the most interesting people I know didn’t know at 22 what they wanted to do with their lives” in a “song” addressed to the ladies and gentlemen of the Class of ’99.
In 1999, I was 15, and I told myself, I’m going to be a sportscaster if only to be able interview a certain Ralph Rivera. He was the most charming professional basketball player here then, and I was so certain I would marry him someday. I didn’t marry him of course, but I didn’t get too depressed over it because after I admitted to myself that a five-footer standing side-by-side with a 6’1” man isn’t too flattering a camera framing for a wedding photo, I realized I didn’t want to be a sportscaster anymore. At 22, I knew exactly what I wanted to do with my life. I was going to be a film director.
I’m now 26; I’m not a film director and I don’t know what to do with my life. (more…)
Filed under: Abba said it so brilliantly, In love or something like it | Tags: burnout, ebe dancel, ely buendia, eraserheads, OPM, sa wakas, sugarfree, telepono, UP
The Master Spinner said this issue’s theme is summer, which is fine, except that the CD I’d like to review has nothing to do with summer. In the meantime, while thinking of some contrived connection with summer, in the spirit of insistence, I’ll start writing about the greatest CD I’ve ever owned, and it’s not by any Rolling Stone or Billboard artist, so hang me now, DJ.
I first heard of this band in an NU107 Pocket Concert coverage on unTV when unTV was still cool and did not have Bible verses as chargens. I was in the kitchen and I heard a familiar voice singing Hello / di na kita naiintindihan and I was completely convinced that it was Ely Buendia, or whatever name he was using that time. I rushed to our sala and did not see any Ely or Jesus. Instead, I saw an unknown band that the chargen later said as “Sugarfree” and the song was “Telepono”, and the rest, as I say, is personal purchasing history.
“Telepono” became my anthem, much like any Eraserheads song was for any UP student whose student number begins with 97- and below, or, to be more age-sensitive, any bitter long-haired youth at that time. I was in college, heartbroken as I remember, and there was Ebe Dancel singing malabo / na ba ang linya sa ating dalawa, as if he sneaked on my cellphone’s Inbox and Sent Items last night. For a while, I was getting restless listening to the first recorded version of “Telepono” (it has a ringing phone in the intro, right before Natatandan mo ba / kagabi, and inabutan na tayo / ng umaga no’n’s last note was less, for lack of a better non-musical-person-term, wavy) on my old CD player via a CD I burned myself. I was fine with that, though of course, as with any six-peso CD-R King disc, it was sure to skip once in a while, especially if I played it every day on my UP Katipunan-Ligaya-San Joaquin route home for a more dramatic jeep ride. I could almost hear my CD screaming for a new mp3 player, but there’s a cheaper, better alternative of course, and it took Sugarfree (actually, their label) two years to finally release it. And when that time came, my home-made CD and the new CD said the same thing: Sa Wakas. (more…)
Filed under: Abba said it so brilliantly, In love or something like it | Tags: love, pag-ibig, UP
Tuwing naririnig ko ang “Telepono” ng Sugarfree, bumabalik ako sa UP, lalo sa “hello/ di na kita/ naiintindhan/ malabo/ na ba ang linya/ sa ating dalawa”, na gustung-gusto kong kinakanta nun habang naglalakad mula Maskom hanggang AS, dahil mas gusto kong maglakad kesa mag-Ikot, bukod sa sayang ang P4.50, habang sinasabi sa sariling mahal ka nun, ayaw lang nyang aminin pero mahal ka nun, hindi ba niya alam na wala na siyang makikitang tangang tulad mo, ituloy mo lang, mahal ka nun, mahal ka nun, hanggang makarating na ako sa AS para sa English 10, at wala pa ring ibang naniniwala sa sinasabi ko, kundi ako lang, at si Ebe.
Filed under: Abba said it so brilliantly, In love or something like it, Poetry in my definition | Tags: gupit, mcamusic, music video, paramita, sa piling nya, toto sorioso, UP
My favorite music video that I directed. (Actually, it’s a toss-up between Paramita’s Sa Piling Nya and this.) Thanks Christina, Toto and mca music!#
Filed under: Abba said it so brilliantly, In love or something like it, Mastercard moments, if you know what I mean | Tags: buddy zabala, concert, eheads, ely buendia, eraserheads, marcus adoro, raimund marasigan, reunion
Hindi ko alam kung paano ko ito isusulat nang hindi ako napapatulala. Hindi ko alam.
Nagsimula ang countdown sa 10:00. Ang tagal pala ng sampung minuto, bakit kapag nag-su-snooze ako ng alarm, parang five minutes lang? Nung dumating na sa wakas ang 1:00, ang pakiramdam ko e parang yung itinataas ako sa Space Shuttle at hinihintay ko na lang yung hudyat na mahuhulog na ‘ko. Ang lamig sa katawan, parang umabnormal yung heartbeat ko, kung may heartbeat pa ako. (Kung wala na, may mga medical team naman daw na nakapaligid sabi ni Announcer for the nth time.)
At natapos ang isang minuto, at nagsimula ang maiksing picture montage. At biglang narinig ko ang introng pamilyar–ten ten ten ten tenetenten ten ten ten ten tenenenten maaay. At nagliwanag ang stage. At lumabas silang apat. At nakita ko si Ely. At nakita ko sila.
Ang Eraserheads.
At ako? Ako ay nawala.
Hindi ko inakalang ganun pala ang pakiramdam. Higit pa sa inakala kong saya. Higit pa sa inakala kong pagtalon. Sa inakala kong pagsigaw. Sa inakala kong paghabol sa hininga. Sa inakala kong pagsabay sa kanta. May tamang salita dyan. Suryal.
At mula dun, hindi na ako naalis sa ka-suryalan–mula Alapaap hanggang Sembreak hanggang Huwag Mo Nang Itanong hanggang Ligaya hanggang Kailan hanggang Hey Jay hanggang Toyang hanggang mga kantang hindi ko alam ang buong lyrics.
Sabhin mo sa akin: Gaano kasarap marinig ang Alapaap na kantahin nang sabay-sabay ng libu-libong mga tao na parang isinulat yun ni Ely para sa bawat isa satin? O ang Kailan sabay taas ng kamay nang pakanan at pakaliwa? Gaano kasarap kantahin ang With a Smile kasabay si Ely habang nakangiti dahil may naaalala? O ang paghaya kay Ely na kantahin ang “naaalala kita pag umuulan” dahil alam mong hahayaan ka niyang kantahin ang “sembreak”? O ang Toyang habang sumisigaw ng “pero pero pero malinis ‘to / pati sa kusina” nang buong gilit sa leeg? Gaano kasarap kantahin ang Harana habang tumatalon kasabay ang katabi mong hindi mo naman kilala? O ang pumalakpak sa dulo ng bawat kanta na tunog-”maraming, maraming salamat” na totoong galing sa puso? Gaano kasarap? Walang kasing-sarap.
At ngayon, napapatulala na naman ako. At hindi pa rin makapaniwala.
Pasensya na, kung ako ay naluluha, mababaw lang talaga ang luha ko.
Kung kinanta rin sana nila ang Minsan (maiiyak ako, lalo sa “minsan tayo ay naging / tunay na / magkaibigan”, dahil para sa inyo yun, Ely) at Para sa Masa (maiiyak ako, dahil para sa amin yun, lalo na sa “naaalala nyo pa ba / binigyan namin kayo ng ligaya?”, dahil hindi ako makakalimot, Ely), baka hindi ko na matapos ito.
At pagdating ng araw na maririnig kong kantahin at tugtugin nina Ely, Raimund, Markus at Buddy iyon sa harap ko, kasama uli ang libo-libo mga taong kilala at hindi ko kilala, hindi ko mapapangako na malalaman ko na nun kung paano isulat yun nang hindi napapatulala.
Ganun nga siguro kapag pinipilit mong isulat nang tunay ang isang bagay na suryal.
Hindi ka nagtatagumpay.#
Filed under: Abba said it so brilliantly | Tags: buddy zabala, concert, eheads, ely buendia, eraserheads, marcus adoro, para sa masa, raimund marasigan, reunion
Ito ay para sa mga masa
sa lahat ng fans ni Ely Buendia
sa lahat ng aabsent sa trabaho’t eskwela
sa lahat ng na-inspire magkabanda
sa lahat ng nangutang pa ng pera
sa lahat ng may gulanit na mga album nila
sa lahat ng nagalit sa DOH tangna nila
sa lahat ng sumuko’t hindi na umasa
sa lahat ng may problema pa rin sa pera
sa lahat ng masa.
sa lahat ng masa.
Filed under: Abba said it so brilliantly, Mastercard moments, if you know what I mean | Tags: buddy zabala, concert, eheads, ely buendia, eraserheads, marcus adoro, minsan, para sa masa, raimund marasigan, reunion
Iniisip ko pa lang kung paano nila kakantahin ang Para Sa Masa (“Naaalala nyo pa / binigyan namin kayo ng ligaya? / …Mapapatawad mo ba ako / kung hindi ko sinunod ang gusto nyo?”) at Minsan (“At kung ikaw ay mapadaan / baka / ikaw ay aking tawagan / dahil minsan tayo ay naging / tunay na / magkaibigan”), naiiyak na ako.
Naiiyak na ako.
