Monday, January 1, 2024

An Ocean Calls

 

The calming rage of the ocean beckons 

Endless water on the horizon

Behind me lies the ruins of the sands

Broken promises spouted from the fiery pulpit of othering

For who is less than human, you or I?


The false gods and prophets shout once more

Of righteousness, of justice, of sin

And on this spot of the water, their words keep echoing

Seeds pushed into your eyes and ears

To be grown into another monoculture field


Yet, the water whispers

Seeping into the stems that have grown

Calling to you to wade deeper and further from the shore

Move forward, if you move at all


Now I walk towards the horizon

Fish start nibbling and pulling on the crops from my pores

But some roots still cling to my being

Until a step pulled me into the depths

And with it, I drown into other worlds

Saturday, June 17, 2017

FĂȘte de la Musique 2017: The Acoustic Stage experience

So after about a decade of not attending Fete, I managed to push through with it this year kahit na solo adventure lang.

While I did originally plan to visit the Acoustic, Spoken Word, and Bedroom Beats stages, the latter two venues were kinda full once I got there.

So the focus of my Fete experience this year is with the Acoustic Stage at A Space.

Random thought, was the venue called A Space because the building used to hold the Makati office of Aboitiz? lol.




Anyway, A Space was already packed by the time I got there at around 3pm. Aia De Leon (former lead singer of Imago) was the one playing by that time. I couldn't see the stage at that point, but her voice sounded familiar. It wasn't until she sang Sundo as her last song that things clicked.

She was followed by Ang Bandang Shirley. They really didn't catch my attention to be honest, but they seemed like a crowd favorite. Maybe part of it was that I couldn't really hear their lyrics well enough?

Next up were Reese LansanganJensen Gomez.
At this point, I was already leaning on the entrance/exit door to the stage area so I managed to get glimpses of their performance.
The duo are probably the most memorable in terms of interacting with the crowd. Kakatuwa yung banatan nila. haha. Hoping to hear more of their original stuff as a duo. ☺
Spotify song: Maybe

After the two was the band named Ben&Ben. My position at this moment was at the right side of the stage as seen in the first pic above. Sadly, I wasn't able to record a video of their performance.
I loved their entire set, especially Ride Home.

Leanne & Naara took the stage after Ben&Ben. They're vocally great and their style reminds me of Sitti, but they're not really the type of artist I'd regularly listen to or follow.

The crowd was thinning out at this point so I managed to move to the front of the stage. It was just in time for Rivermaya and Basti Artadi.



They're missing one member as he was out of the country at the time. They played Elesi followed by 3 new songs for a new album they're planning to release within the year. Interesting songs - looking forward to hearing the non-acoustic versions lalo na yung Manila.

Shout out dun sa audience na nakakuha nung shaker. Swak sa lahat
ng kanta. haha.

The last artist I watched for this year's Fete was Basti Artadi and Michael (?) __. He's kinda familiar looking, I think he's was guitarist for the Roborats nung 2016 Silent Film Fest with Basti, but I'm not sure.

The Last Goodbye was the only song I could recall from his album. They seem to have a ton of projects in the works and one of them, if I got it correctly, seems to be a country centric album. Its great that they're still releasing new stuff. Kakatuwa na they ended their set covering REM's It's the End of the World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine).

Overall, the experience was worth it. Fete's a great venue to discover new music and learn firsthand updates from artists. Cheers to a successful event that is still ongoing. I'm 70% sure at this point that I'll be returning to the Acoustic Stage next year, schedule permitting. I loved the atmosphere despite ventilation related struggles during the early sets.

Sunday, August 28, 2016

An Austrian silent film rom-com: International Silent Film Festival Manila 2016

I wasn't expecting a rom-com silent film as my second silent film festival experience -- the first one being a silent film version of the Phantom of the Opera with music from Razorback.

Der Balletterzherzog was a lighthearted Austrian film about a young ballerina who ends up being the lead star due to luck. This is despite being called by the ballet manager as someone who is always late and dances like an elephant. Oh and she gets her guy at the end too. 

Accompanying music for the film was done by Basti Artadi and the Roborats...and I have to say, using Negatron for the intro and some other military related scenes. I don't think I'll ever tire of how dirty a sax can sound on a rock song. Thumbs up to the band on that.

Oh and here's a poor phone camera shot of the Austrian representative introducing the film and the band:




Things you can learn from the movie:
1. Communication, as always, is key.
2. You don't need a good work ethic to advance in life, you just have to be pretty, hahaha.

Monday, December 7, 2015

A distant reminder

If a canvas of words could soothe your doubts
Then allow these to cover you for warmth
May this offering remind you on those cold distant nights
Know that in my thoughts may you not chip and shatter
May strength and assurance leave you undulled
For you are the dagger I have chosen
You are the weapon by my side

Sunday, October 4, 2015

A weapon of war

You are the dagger dangling above my head
Ever present, ever there
You are the blade that has pierced through my chest
It has slipped past my defences again and again
Welcome to my birth and my death at your hands
The history books might not give this the honor it deserves

Monday, March 30, 2015

Cooking Attempts: Pasta with white sauce and chicken

Wee. Made my first cream based pasta dish today. I referred to some recipes on the internet and the recipe on the back of the all purpose cream pack for some inspiration. lol



Ingredients:
200g penne
1/3 cup all purpose cream
1/3 cup of milk
1/3 cup of quickmelt cheese
2 eggs
300g sliced chicken breasts
2 tbsp minced garlic
2 tbsp olive oil
black olives (optional)
salt & pepper to taste

serves me three

Rough steps that I probably should not forget
1. cook penne in pot (12 minutes); set aside
2. mix the cream, milk, cheese, eggs in a bowl
3. saute garlic and chicken
4. Add in the sauce and mix
5. Add in the pasta and mix

Notes:
  1. Initially thought I didn't have enough sauce but it turned out okay afterwards.
  2. Still need to figure out how to manage that sauté setting on the induction cooker so I avoid overcooking ze garlic.
  3. Should probably choose another cheese next time.

Sunday, December 28, 2014