Showing posts with label pinoy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label pinoy. Show all posts
back when the e-heads' "cutterpillow" went gold in a day
monday music fix:
iisang bangka
THE DAWN
I remembered this because our noisy neighbor was playing it on his radio. For once I was thankful for the clamor that comes from beyond the perimeter wall, a welcome change from his '80s love ballads.
The Dawn is one of the best Philippine rock bands ever (some thirtysomethings and fortysomethings would even argue they're the best). They started in the underground scene and broke into the mainstream with their innovative and advanced sound. There was just no one like them at that time, and no one since. It's a pity there just aren't any local bands as good these days.
Iisang Bangka is one of their best songs, me thinks. It's been a rocker anthem and it still is today. It came at us with a then-unique sound, even for the Dawn themselves (I mean, none of their other songs sound quite this way). It was very modern with a touch of ethnic, with an aggressive quality which was at the same time ethereal. And Wow guitars. At that time that sort of thing wasn't really common anywhere in Asia, you couldn't help being so impressed with Francis' Reyes guitar playing. Hanep talaga. Intro pa lang!
The lyrics are amazing too; contemporary Tagalog poetry sung very rhythmically in Jett Pangan's unique, easily distinguishable voice. It's a testosterone-laden (very strongly male) song of comradeship, with references to the ancient Filipino ancestors' arduous journey through the sea.
If you were alive in the Philippines in the '80s, you would remember it from a San Miguel Beer commercial. Apparently San Miguel produced this video for them for use of their song on a TV ad (great choice, San Miguel!). It aired periodically every day for a time on local channels - there was the shorter "jingle" version and the extended music video. That's partially why it's so part of us Pinoy Gen-Xers - the repeated play ingrained it in our minds, and made it the background music to our growing-up days. So when we who heard it back then hear it today, it evokes a slew of memories and emotions.
(I have to confess. While I blogging this, I have Iisang Bangka playing over and over and over. After the fifth or sixth time, I for some reason started to feel like crying -but not in a sad way. It's like I'm feeling a confusing surge of emotions. Darnit.)
I was around twelve years old and I remember waiting for the video to come on as I watched television; the mere sound of the intro was exciting and the visuals were captivating (especially since hardly any local artists had a music video, and no one had one this well-made; and for a twelve year old in the '80s this was AWESOME). It was so cool. At that time teenage boys swore to someday sing like Pangan or play like Reyes.
Listening to it again, I still think the sound is pretty great - I mean, even for today (I don't mean the sound quality of course but the instrumentation, lyrics, et al).
Below is the same video I used to see everyday. They look so young here; I never realized they were that young. Just ignore the late '80s / early '90s fashion and the pre-grunge moves ... actually, just close your eyes and give a listen.
Below is The Dawn as they came together for the 2007 NU 107 Rock Awards. They played an excerpt of a faster, fiercer version of Iisang Bangka updated for the new century. You'd notice that playing the bass for them is Buddy Zabala from the Eraserheads.
The Dawn is one of the best Philippine rock bands ever (some thirtysomethings and fortysomethings would even argue they're the best). They started in the underground scene and broke into the mainstream with their innovative and advanced sound. There was just no one like them at that time, and no one since. It's a pity there just aren't any local bands as good these days.
Iisang Bangka is one of their best songs, me thinks. It's been a rocker anthem and it still is today. It came at us with a then-unique sound, even for the Dawn themselves (I mean, none of their other songs sound quite this way). It was very modern with a touch of ethnic, with an aggressive quality which was at the same time ethereal. And Wow guitars. At that time that sort of thing wasn't really common anywhere in Asia, you couldn't help being so impressed with Francis' Reyes guitar playing. Hanep talaga. Intro pa lang!
The lyrics are amazing too; contemporary Tagalog poetry sung very rhythmically in Jett Pangan's unique, easily distinguishable voice. It's a testosterone-laden (very strongly male) song of comradeship, with references to the ancient Filipino ancestors' arduous journey through the sea.
If you were alive in the Philippines in the '80s, you would remember it from a San Miguel Beer commercial. Apparently San Miguel produced this video for them for use of their song on a TV ad (great choice, San Miguel!). It aired periodically every day for a time on local channels - there was the shorter "jingle" version and the extended music video. That's partially why it's so part of us Pinoy Gen-Xers - the repeated play ingrained it in our minds, and made it the background music to our growing-up days. So when we who heard it back then hear it today, it evokes a slew of memories and emotions.
(I have to confess. While I blogging this, I have Iisang Bangka playing over and over and over. After the fifth or sixth time, I for some reason started to feel like crying -but not in a sad way. It's like I'm feeling a confusing surge of emotions. Darnit.)
I was around twelve years old and I remember waiting for the video to come on as I watched television; the mere sound of the intro was exciting and the visuals were captivating (especially since hardly any local artists had a music video, and no one had one this well-made; and for a twelve year old in the '80s this was AWESOME). It was so cool. At that time teenage boys swore to someday sing like Pangan or play like Reyes.
Listening to it again, I still think the sound is pretty great - I mean, even for today (I don't mean the sound quality of course but the instrumentation, lyrics, et al).
Below is the same video I used to see everyday. They look so young here; I never realized they were that young. Just ignore the late '80s / early '90s fashion and the pre-grunge moves ... actually, just close your eyes and give a listen.
Kay dilim at kay ginaw sa kalawakan ng dagat
Ubod lakas kung humiyaw ang galit na hanging habagat
Ngunit buo ang puso mo'ng ang daluyong ay susugurin
Magkasama tayong katahimika'y hahanapin
Saan ang tungo mo mahal ko'ng kaibigan
Saan sasadyain hanap mo'ng katahimikan
Basta't tayo'y magkasama laging sasabayan kita
Pinagsamaha'y nasa puso kaibigan kabarkada
Iharap natin ang layag sa umaawit na hangin
Kapit-bisig tayong ang gabi ay hahawiin
[CHORUS 1]
Dahon ng damo, tangay ng hangin
At di mo matanaw kung saan ka dadalhin
Ngunit kasama mo ako, nakabigkis sa puso mo
Daluyong ng dagat ang tatawirin natin
Saan ang tungo mo mahal ko'ng kaibigan
Saan sasadyain hanap mo'ng katahimikan
Basta't tayo'y magkasama laging sasabayan kita
Pinagsamaha'y nasa puso kaibigan kabarkada
Iharap natin ang layag sa umaawit na hangin
Kapit-bisig tayong ang gabi ay hahawiin
[CHORUS 2]
Ating liliparin, may harang mang sibat
Ating tatawirin, daluyong ng dagat
Basta't kasama mo ako, iisang bangka tayo
Anuman ang mithiin ay makakamtan natin
Ating liliparin, may harang mang sibat
Ating tatawirin, daluyong ng dagat
Basta't kasama mo ako, iisang bangka tayo
Anuman ang mithiin ay makakamtan natin
Ubod lakas kung humiyaw ang galit na hanging habagat
Ngunit buo ang puso mo'ng ang daluyong ay susugurin
Magkasama tayong katahimika'y hahanapin
Saan ang tungo mo mahal ko'ng kaibigan
Saan sasadyain hanap mo'ng katahimikan
Basta't tayo'y magkasama laging sasabayan kita
Pinagsamaha'y nasa puso kaibigan kabarkada
Iharap natin ang layag sa umaawit na hangin
Kapit-bisig tayong ang gabi ay hahawiin
[CHORUS 1]
Dahon ng damo, tangay ng hangin
At di mo matanaw kung saan ka dadalhin
Ngunit kasama mo ako, nakabigkis sa puso mo
Daluyong ng dagat ang tatawirin natin
Saan ang tungo mo mahal ko'ng kaibigan
Saan sasadyain hanap mo'ng katahimikan
Basta't tayo'y magkasama laging sasabayan kita
Pinagsamaha'y nasa puso kaibigan kabarkada
Iharap natin ang layag sa umaawit na hangin
Kapit-bisig tayong ang gabi ay hahawiin
[CHORUS 2]
Ating liliparin, may harang mang sibat
Ating tatawirin, daluyong ng dagat
Basta't kasama mo ako, iisang bangka tayo
Anuman ang mithiin ay makakamtan natin
Ating liliparin, may harang mang sibat
Ating tatawirin, daluyong ng dagat
Basta't kasama mo ako, iisang bangka tayo
Anuman ang mithiin ay makakamtan natin
Below is The Dawn as they came together for the 2007 NU 107 Rock Awards. They played an excerpt of a faster, fiercer version of Iisang Bangka updated for the new century. You'd notice that playing the bass for them is Buddy Zabala from the Eraserheads.
back when that lady in cambio had a slightly different name
Followers of the local alternative music scene in the late '90s know she was the vocalist of the all-girl rock band Fatal Posporos. Back in '02 she made some waves when it was announced she was going to be Ely Buendia's replacement in the Eraserheads. She's no Ely, and a lot of E'heads diehards didn't like the idea of a female vocalist, but the girl had talent. The new E'heads didn't fly, and each member of the iconic rock group went to start other bands that haven't yet become half as popular as the original E'heads but are at least doing better than the new one. Kris Gorra-Dancel's most recent stint is as the lead vocals of the rock act Cambio.
Around a decade and a half ago, I knew her as Kristina Gorra. She didn't know me, but I recognized her. We went to the same exclusive Catholic private high school for girls; she was two batches ahead. She wasn't really a campus celebrity, but she wasn't exactly a nobody either. I believe she was one of those brainy types who wrote articles for the school paper; I don't know if she was in the honors class or not. If I remember correctly, she was sometimes chosen for speech competitions.
Girls from our school didn't normally form rock bands, but Kris and her friend Donna had one. They performed at a program just after our last mass for that year, right before we were dismissed to attend our Christmas parties. They played a lackluster rendition of John Lennon's Imagine, sadly in need of a metronome, but good enough entertainment to soothe us from two and a half quarters of school-related stress (The show was stolen by a batchmate of mine who sang Christmas All Over the World and mispronounced Christmas as Kreesmass every time she got to the high-pitched chorus).
Naturally I didn't see Kristina around school after she graduated, but I did see her again. The next time I encountered her was at the end of Summer of '95, when I went to enroll in University. The University - everybody's dream school, where brilliant, radical thinkers supposedly went. As an incoming freshman, I scouted around my campus-to-be and observed some of the upperclassmen hanging around.
In the lobby of the Palma Hall Annex, I saw a familiar face, someone from my high school. I recognized her as Kristina Gorra. I thought about introducing myself for Alma Mater's sake and probably making an instant upperclassman friend. I decided that was too uncool. Besides, I wasn't even sure if she did go to that school; she could have just been hanging around with her buddies.
I noticed something different about Kristina. Our high school teachers used to tell us that going to college would change us, and I saw what they meant when I saw her. Aside from the fact that she was not wearing the ugly, unflattering uniform I was used to seeing her in, she did not seem at all like a girl who came from an exclusive Catholic all-girls private school. She walked with a then-fashionable "heroin-chic" attitude, looking laid back and cool in ratty jeans and a grungy shirt. She wore slippers, and her hair was all rumpled. She squatted on the floor (something that was outlawed in our old high school) while she chatted with her pal - and I couldn't help noticing that she lost her kolehiyala accent. Though she still had the exact same face, she was an entirely different person.
I told my friend (also from the same high school) about the chance encounter and we both swore never to lose our kolehiyala accent.
I saw Kristina again a few years later, fronting for Fatal Posporos (with her was her friend Donna, also from our high school). Now that was when I didn't recognize her. Even when I saw her name in the newspaper articles announcing she was going to be the new Ely, it didn't register that a girl from our very Catholic high school would front a rock band. I though that her name was familiar to me simply because she was in a band. It took me another few years to realize that it was the same Kristina Gorra.
Around a decade and a half ago, I knew her as Kristina Gorra. She didn't know me, but I recognized her. We went to the same exclusive Catholic private high school for girls; she was two batches ahead. She wasn't really a campus celebrity, but she wasn't exactly a nobody either. I believe she was one of those brainy types who wrote articles for the school paper; I don't know if she was in the honors class or not. If I remember correctly, she was sometimes chosen for speech competitions.
Girls from our school didn't normally form rock bands, but Kris and her friend Donna had one. They performed at a program just after our last mass for that year, right before we were dismissed to attend our Christmas parties. They played a lackluster rendition of John Lennon's Imagine, sadly in need of a metronome, but good enough entertainment to soothe us from two and a half quarters of school-related stress (The show was stolen by a batchmate of mine who sang Christmas All Over the World and mispronounced Christmas as Kreesmass every time she got to the high-pitched chorus).
Naturally I didn't see Kristina around school after she graduated, but I did see her again. The next time I encountered her was at the end of Summer of '95, when I went to enroll in University. The University - everybody's dream school, where brilliant, radical thinkers supposedly went. As an incoming freshman, I scouted around my campus-to-be and observed some of the upperclassmen hanging around.
In the lobby of the Palma Hall Annex, I saw a familiar face, someone from my high school. I recognized her as Kristina Gorra. I thought about introducing myself for Alma Mater's sake and probably making an instant upperclassman friend. I decided that was too uncool. Besides, I wasn't even sure if she did go to that school; she could have just been hanging around with her buddies.
I noticed something different about Kristina. Our high school teachers used to tell us that going to college would change us, and I saw what they meant when I saw her. Aside from the fact that she was not wearing the ugly, unflattering uniform I was used to seeing her in, she did not seem at all like a girl who came from an exclusive Catholic all-girls private school. She walked with a then-fashionable "heroin-chic" attitude, looking laid back and cool in ratty jeans and a grungy shirt. She wore slippers, and her hair was all rumpled. She squatted on the floor (something that was outlawed in our old high school) while she chatted with her pal - and I couldn't help noticing that she lost her kolehiyala accent. Though she still had the exact same face, she was an entirely different person.
I told my friend (also from the same high school) about the chance encounter and we both swore never to lose our kolehiyala accent.
I saw Kristina again a few years later, fronting for Fatal Posporos (with her was her friend Donna, also from our high school). Now that was when I didn't recognize her. Even when I saw her name in the newspaper articles announcing she was going to be the new Ely, it didn't register that a girl from our very Catholic high school would front a rock band. I though that her name was familiar to me simply because she was in a band. It took me another few years to realize that it was the same Kristina Gorra.
back when dayanara torres was our neighbor
Sometime in the mid-nineties, I lived with my family in a lovely neighborhood in Ortigas, Pasig. Really nice place to live. No squatters anywhere nearby, no stray dogs, no nosy neighbors or tambays. Security was top-notch; there were never any burglaries even if we left our doors unlocked. Boy, I loved that place. I bet we would have continued to live there if rent and association dues didn't get so ridiculously high.
It was a semi posh-ish village - the kind with of huge, well-kept houses with modern architecture and manicured lawns, big purebred dogs and fancy cars. We had a few neighbors who were celebrities, no usiseros assailed them; that kind of village.
But our family didn't live in one of those big celebrity-level houses; we lived in one of the humble (but fancy) townhouses on Firefly Street. Our particular block was a row of neat, modern-looking three-floor duplexes with french bay windows; twelve units labelled A to L. Each unit's front gate faced the street; all our back doors were sliding glass ones that opened into a wide garden and a large swimming pool, shared by all townhouse owners. I lived with my mom and sibs in Unit L.
In our row of townhouses, two units away from us stayed Miss Universe 1993, Dayanara Torres.
After turning over her crown in the 1994 pageant, she stayed in the Philippines (where Miss U was held that year) and became an actress and a TV show host.
Image from here.
She moved into our street a little over a year after we did. I sometimes caught glimpses of her and she was often close enough to talk to. I never met the beauty queen though. At least not exactly.
I did have one odd interaction with her, and even if I was never a fan of hers, I wished I'd said something witty instead of skipping away like a guilty busybody.
It was December 31, 1996. I was an awkward teenager. Every 31st of December, NU 107 counted down their top hundred hits for the year, beginning with #100 sometime in the morning and ending with the #1 song at exactly 12 midnight. My Walkman was affixed that entire day; for some reason I found it necessary to know what those hundred were. I ate, breathed, watched TV and did everything with my headset on. I was lucky my mom didn't mind my mental absence on New Year's Eve.
Sometime in the late afternoon / early evening, I hoped to lessen my loserly boredom by taking a stroll. Still with my Walkman attached, I thought of going over to the far end of the pool to sit and dip my feet.
Halfway there, headphones still in place, I heard the DJ say something that sparked a clever idea in my head - and if you know me, you'd know that I find clever ideas important and that I enjoy wallowing in my musings. I don't recall what exactly that thought was, but I do remember pausing to ponder on it. I stood motionless where I was, hands on hips, head tilted upward, eyes on a small cloud to help me focus.
Careless buffoon that I was, I hadn't noticed that I stopped just outside one of our neighbors' open sliding glass doors. The innards of unit J were dimly lit but nonetheless exposed, and the owner happened to be right there at that very moment. I was jolted back to consciousness when I realized she was addressing me in a not-exactly-friendly tone. Since I was plugged into my radio, I couldn't make out what she said; it might have been along the lines of What the hell are you doing hanging around outside my house!?, considering that I looked suspiciously like a too-curious bystander over there.
Unit J happened to be Dayanara's unit, and yes, I was being spoken to by the beauty queen-turned-actress herself. I swear, I didn't purposely loiter outside her house to stalk her. But you know how protective celebrities can get about their privacy.
There she was, unself-conscious in the comfort of her own home, laid-back but still gorgeous. My guy friends would have surely wanted to be in the position I was in - looking upon Dayanara who wore only a thin, oversized olive-green shirt that showed off her figure and her mile-long legs. But I couldn't care how sexy she was; I was more concerned that she glared at me with eyes ready to shoot lazer beams. I think I made her mad.
Pretty eyes, by the way.
I also noticed that she was hanging up her laundry in the living room (It was a rule of the association that no one was supposed to hang laundry outside, to maintain the classy aesthetics of the village. Each unit did have large enough laundry areas, but sometimes we had to improvise). She had one of those foldaway aluminum racks; she was decking it with her delicates and her underwear. Right in my line of vision was emblazoned a thickly-padded push-up bra, the secret of celebrities.
Now I knew Dayanara's secret.
I didn't have time to snicker at this awkward, unglamorous sighting of a former Miss Universe. And considering she might've been pissed because I seemed to stick my nose into her personal business, this was certainly not an appropriate moment to make friends. With my lack of presence of mind, all I got to do was drop my jaw like a stunned goldfish and run for cover before she called security on me.
I thought maybe I should've apologized at a later, less vulnerable time, in the way a good neighbor should. But I never bothered to. It was just Dayanara Torres anyway.
I didn't really notice when she moved out, or whether she was still living there when we moved in '97. I didn't even notice when she left the country.
She returned to Puerto Rico in '98 I think; as far as I know she did a bit of recording and was later married to singer Marc Antony (and eventually divorced). I suppose she's more of a private individual now, maybe living in some classy neighborhood where there aren't any dumb kids catching her laundering her undies.
It was a semi posh-ish village - the kind with of huge, well-kept houses with modern architecture and manicured lawns, big purebred dogs and fancy cars. We had a few neighbors who were celebrities, no usiseros assailed them; that kind of village.
But our family didn't live in one of those big celebrity-level houses; we lived in one of the humble (but fancy) townhouses on Firefly Street. Our particular block was a row of neat, modern-looking three-floor duplexes with french bay windows; twelve units labelled A to L. Each unit's front gate faced the street; all our back doors were sliding glass ones that opened into a wide garden and a large swimming pool, shared by all townhouse owners. I lived with my mom and sibs in Unit L.
In our row of townhouses, two units away from us stayed Miss Universe 1993, Dayanara Torres.
After turning over her crown in the 1994 pageant, she stayed in the Philippines (where Miss U was held that year) and became an actress and a TV show host.
Image from here.She moved into our street a little over a year after we did. I sometimes caught glimpses of her and she was often close enough to talk to. I never met the beauty queen though. At least not exactly.
I did have one odd interaction with her, and even if I was never a fan of hers, I wished I'd said something witty instead of skipping away like a guilty busybody.
It was December 31, 1996. I was an awkward teenager. Every 31st of December, NU 107 counted down their top hundred hits for the year, beginning with #100 sometime in the morning and ending with the #1 song at exactly 12 midnight. My Walkman was affixed that entire day; for some reason I found it necessary to know what those hundred were. I ate, breathed, watched TV and did everything with my headset on. I was lucky my mom didn't mind my mental absence on New Year's Eve.
Sometime in the late afternoon / early evening, I hoped to lessen my loserly boredom by taking a stroll. Still with my Walkman attached, I thought of going over to the far end of the pool to sit and dip my feet.
Halfway there, headphones still in place, I heard the DJ say something that sparked a clever idea in my head - and if you know me, you'd know that I find clever ideas important and that I enjoy wallowing in my musings. I don't recall what exactly that thought was, but I do remember pausing to ponder on it. I stood motionless where I was, hands on hips, head tilted upward, eyes on a small cloud to help me focus.
Careless buffoon that I was, I hadn't noticed that I stopped just outside one of our neighbors' open sliding glass doors. The innards of unit J were dimly lit but nonetheless exposed, and the owner happened to be right there at that very moment. I was jolted back to consciousness when I realized she was addressing me in a not-exactly-friendly tone. Since I was plugged into my radio, I couldn't make out what she said; it might have been along the lines of What the hell are you doing hanging around outside my house!?, considering that I looked suspiciously like a too-curious bystander over there.
Unit J happened to be Dayanara's unit, and yes, I was being spoken to by the beauty queen-turned-actress herself. I swear, I didn't purposely loiter outside her house to stalk her. But you know how protective celebrities can get about their privacy.
There she was, unself-conscious in the comfort of her own home, laid-back but still gorgeous. My guy friends would have surely wanted to be in the position I was in - looking upon Dayanara who wore only a thin, oversized olive-green shirt that showed off her figure and her mile-long legs. But I couldn't care how sexy she was; I was more concerned that she glared at me with eyes ready to shoot lazer beams. I think I made her mad.
Pretty eyes, by the way.
I also noticed that she was hanging up her laundry in the living room (It was a rule of the association that no one was supposed to hang laundry outside, to maintain the classy aesthetics of the village. Each unit did have large enough laundry areas, but sometimes we had to improvise). She had one of those foldaway aluminum racks; she was decking it with her delicates and her underwear. Right in my line of vision was emblazoned a thickly-padded push-up bra, the secret of celebrities.
Now I knew Dayanara's secret.
I didn't have time to snicker at this awkward, unglamorous sighting of a former Miss Universe. And considering she might've been pissed because I seemed to stick my nose into her personal business, this was certainly not an appropriate moment to make friends. With my lack of presence of mind, all I got to do was drop my jaw like a stunned goldfish and run for cover before she called security on me.
I thought maybe I should've apologized at a later, less vulnerable time, in the way a good neighbor should. But I never bothered to. It was just Dayanara Torres anyway.
I didn't really notice when she moved out, or whether she was still living there when we moved in '97. I didn't even notice when she left the country.
She returned to Puerto Rico in '98 I think; as far as I know she did a bit of recording and was later married to singer Marc Antony (and eventually divorced). I suppose she's more of a private individual now, maybe living in some classy neighborhood where there aren't any dumb kids catching her laundering her undies.
back in 1994, when miss universe was held in our country
I didn't realize that it's been a month since I last updated this blog with my reminiscing. :p Anyway, I return to my fond remembering today with something from 1994.
This morning, I watched the 2010 Miss Universe pageant on the telly. I was happy to see that the Philippines' Venus Raj made it as far as fourth runner-up. Congratulations pa rin! Venus looked really gorgeous; she could have done better in the Q&A, but she still did pretty well.
Is it just my imagination, or are these beauty pageants a bit faster-paced now? Ah, well.
After watching, my memory rolled back to the time that Miss Universe was held right here in the Philippines back in 1994. It was a big thing, and I kept hoping we pinoys wouldn't do anything embarrassing during that whole period. It was all good.
For the opening production in which the candidates paraded one by one, the beauty queens sang and danced to a techno number with samples of Gary V's Hataw Na. I'm not so sure that was a good idea, but it kept viewers entertained at least. But even more cringe-worthy was a duet between Peabo Bryson and then-reigning queen, Puerto Rico's Dayanara Torres - they did a sucky rendition of A Whole New World , pinoy variety-show style, which was pretty much unnecessary to the program.
Miss Philippines 1994 Charlene Gonzales was a real charmer. Even the spokesmodels at the side count her as one of their favorites.
Big hair and immaculately-lined lips were glamorous then, and it wasn't so bad not to be a skinny waif. She was pleasantly witty too:
Host: ... You guys have a bunch of islands here. How many islands are in the Philippines?
Charlene: High tide or low tide?
That answer of hers became a catchphrase and a punchline for several months.
In those years, it was an annual Miss Universe tradition to have little girls (dressed up as little Miss U candidates) sing that You Are My Star / When You wish Upon a Star medley in the final evening gown competition. Charlene wore a strapless yellow-and-gold number, and to this day that's the mental image I have of her.
Charlene only made it to the top six though. She didn't get to answer the final question that made Sushmita Sen India's first Miss Universe: What is the essence of being a woman?
Even beyond the pageant, after most of the candidates and organizers left, there were still bits of Miss U aftershocks in the country in the following few years. For one, Charlene succeeded in penetrating showbiz promptly after, so we saw a lot more of her. She confessed this to be one of her goals for joining Binibining Pilipinas / Miss Universe.
Her career is still successful to this day. And I think she looks a lot prettier now that she's older:
Miss Australia 1994 Michelle Van Eimeren gained fame as an actress here as well, but she is mostly remembered as actor Ogie Alcasid's ex-wife. In the touring period before the pageant itself, Ogie acted as the jeepney-driving tour guide to the candidates, and I'm guessing that's when they fell in love (I remember watching a talks show [cheap of me, I know] guesting Ogie and the favorite candidates, including Michelle; Ogie was asked about a rumored blossoming romance with Miss Australia and he gave a generic we're just friends answer. Michelle's reaction was captured on camera - she didn't say a word but she was looked pretty much betrayed). Lately Michelle Van Eimeren is back in local showbiz news due to Ogie's engagement to songbird Regine. Since Michelle was a celebrity here for a while, gossipmongers thought of thickening the plot by phone-patching Ogie's ex-wife all the way from Australia.
Who could forget Miss Mauritius Viveka Babajee? She remained in the Philippines for some reason - maybe she hoped to be lucky here - but that proved to be a mistake. She was villainized as a pawn of Lolit Solis in the infamous Metro Manila Film Fest scam, for which she is remembered for the words, "Take it! Take it!". Solis went to jail and I think Babajee was shamefully deported after that.
We also saw a lot more of Miss Universe '93, Dayanara Torres, since she chose to remain here after the 1994 pageant. She too had a career of hosting, singing, dancing and (bad) acting. She had a thing with actor Aga Muhlach for a while - whether it was a real off-screen romance or just a love team to sell their crap movies, I don't know.
Aga is now happily married to Charlene by the way. See photo above.
This reminds me - Dayanara Torres was our neighbor for a short time. She wasn't the friendly neighborly type, and neither were we, so there isn't much to reminisce about that. Still i think that'll be the topic of my next entry. :) Cheers!
This morning, I watched the 2010 Miss Universe pageant on the telly. I was happy to see that the Philippines' Venus Raj made it as far as fourth runner-up. Congratulations pa rin! Venus looked really gorgeous; she could have done better in the Q&A, but she still did pretty well.
Is it just my imagination, or are these beauty pageants a bit faster-paced now? Ah, well.
After watching, my memory rolled back to the time that Miss Universe was held right here in the Philippines back in 1994. It was a big thing, and I kept hoping we pinoys wouldn't do anything embarrassing during that whole period. It was all good.
For the opening production in which the candidates paraded one by one, the beauty queens sang and danced to a techno number with samples of Gary V's Hataw Na. I'm not so sure that was a good idea, but it kept viewers entertained at least. But even more cringe-worthy was a duet between Peabo Bryson and then-reigning queen, Puerto Rico's Dayanara Torres - they did a sucky rendition of A Whole New World , pinoy variety-show style, which was pretty much unnecessary to the program.
Miss Philippines 1994 Charlene Gonzales was a real charmer. Even the spokesmodels at the side count her as one of their favorites.
Big hair and immaculately-lined lips were glamorous then, and it wasn't so bad not to be a skinny waif. She was pleasantly witty too:
Host: ... You guys have a bunch of islands here. How many islands are in the Philippines?
Charlene: High tide or low tide?
That answer of hers became a catchphrase and a punchline for several months.
In those years, it was an annual Miss Universe tradition to have little girls (dressed up as little Miss U candidates) sing that You Are My Star / When You wish Upon a Star medley in the final evening gown competition. Charlene wore a strapless yellow-and-gold number, and to this day that's the mental image I have of her.
Charlene only made it to the top six though. She didn't get to answer the final question that made Sushmita Sen India's first Miss Universe: What is the essence of being a woman?
Even beyond the pageant, after most of the candidates and organizers left, there were still bits of Miss U aftershocks in the country in the following few years. For one, Charlene succeeded in penetrating showbiz promptly after, so we saw a lot more of her. She confessed this to be one of her goals for joining Binibining Pilipinas / Miss Universe.
Her career is still successful to this day. And I think she looks a lot prettier now that she's older:
Miss Australia 1994 Michelle Van Eimeren gained fame as an actress here as well, but she is mostly remembered as actor Ogie Alcasid's ex-wife. In the touring period before the pageant itself, Ogie acted as the jeepney-driving tour guide to the candidates, and I'm guessing that's when they fell in love (I remember watching a talks show [cheap of me, I know] guesting Ogie and the favorite candidates, including Michelle; Ogie was asked about a rumored blossoming romance with Miss Australia and he gave a generic we're just friends answer. Michelle's reaction was captured on camera - she didn't say a word but she was looked pretty much betrayed). Lately Michelle Van Eimeren is back in local showbiz news due to Ogie's engagement to songbird Regine. Since Michelle was a celebrity here for a while, gossipmongers thought of thickening the plot by phone-patching Ogie's ex-wife all the way from Australia.
Who could forget Miss Mauritius Viveka Babajee? She remained in the Philippines for some reason - maybe she hoped to be lucky here - but that proved to be a mistake. She was villainized as a pawn of Lolit Solis in the infamous Metro Manila Film Fest scam, for which she is remembered for the words, "Take it! Take it!". Solis went to jail and I think Babajee was shamefully deported after that.
We also saw a lot more of Miss Universe '93, Dayanara Torres, since she chose to remain here after the 1994 pageant. She too had a career of hosting, singing, dancing and (bad) acting. She had a thing with actor Aga Muhlach for a while - whether it was a real off-screen romance or just a love team to sell their crap movies, I don't know.
Aga is now happily married to Charlene by the way. See photo above.
This reminds me - Dayanara Torres was our neighbor for a short time. She wasn't the friendly neighborly type, and neither were we, so there isn't much to reminisce about that. Still i think that'll be the topic of my next entry. :) Cheers!
back when every corner had a shawarma shack
At half past eleven last night, I had another weird food craving (NOTE: Weird food cravings are ordinary to me; they aren't an indication that I'm pregnant or anything). After fetching a bar of chocolate from 7-11, I realized that I wanted chunks of grilled meat and vegetables wrapped in unleavened bread.
Why I wanted to eat shawarma, and how on earth I got the idea of eating one at midnight, baffles me too. There was no place I could buy one, much less at that hour. I had to wait at least ten hours until malls were open and hope that one of them still had a shawarma stand.
Of course I couldn't help reminiscing that there was a time when there were shawarma stands in every other corner. Every mall, campus and village had at least one. Shawarma was one of the top fad foods of the '90s.
Hey ... didn't Red Sternberg's character in the channel-7 series T.G.I.S. work at a shawarma stand? NoBenta just posted something about T.G.I.S. yesterday, so I guess that crept out of my subconscious. I never really watched the show (Ever. I swear.) but I remember hearing that detail from somewhere. Correct me if I'm wrong.
Just a block from where I used to live was a little store that sold shawarma. I hardly ever bought anything from there though.
I didn't really love eating shawarma, but I found it very convenient, especially at university (naturally as fad foods go, shawarma was sold at our school). It was easy to bring around, it didn't need utensils and it could be finished in several bites. Very practical when I had to spend break time studying or working on a project, and particularly convenient when most of the eating places were crowded and I didn't have time to wait for a table to free up (which was often the case). I could just buy one , grab a drink and eat it wherever.
Of course buying just one often didn't satisfy, especially after the demand for shawarma increased and its quality (and size) decreased.
These days there are but a handful of shawarma stands in Manila (I mean, not counting the authentic Middle-Eastern restaurants) - and it's not even the good kind of shawarma. In the late '90s shawarma stores packed up one by one, soon outnumbered by pearl shake kiosks (which were in turn later overpowered by Mini-Stops and Starbucks), and only a few survive to this day.
But I still intend to find one and feed my craving.
Why I wanted to eat shawarma, and how on earth I got the idea of eating one at midnight, baffles me too. There was no place I could buy one, much less at that hour. I had to wait at least ten hours until malls were open and hope that one of them still had a shawarma stand.
Of course I couldn't help reminiscing that there was a time when there were shawarma stands in every other corner. Every mall, campus and village had at least one. Shawarma was one of the top fad foods of the '90s.
Hey ... didn't Red Sternberg's character in the channel-7 series T.G.I.S. work at a shawarma stand? NoBenta just posted something about T.G.I.S. yesterday, so I guess that crept out of my subconscious. I never really watched the show (Ever. I swear.) but I remember hearing that detail from somewhere. Correct me if I'm wrong.
Just a block from where I used to live was a little store that sold shawarma. I hardly ever bought anything from there though.
I didn't really love eating shawarma, but I found it very convenient, especially at university (naturally as fad foods go, shawarma was sold at our school). It was easy to bring around, it didn't need utensils and it could be finished in several bites. Very practical when I had to spend break time studying or working on a project, and particularly convenient when most of the eating places were crowded and I didn't have time to wait for a table to free up (which was often the case). I could just buy one , grab a drink and eat it wherever.
Of course buying just one often didn't satisfy, especially after the demand for shawarma increased and its quality (and size) decreased.
These days there are but a handful of shawarma stands in Manila (I mean, not counting the authentic Middle-Eastern restaurants) - and it's not even the good kind of shawarma. In the late '90s shawarma stores packed up one by one, soon outnumbered by pearl shake kiosks (which were in turn later overpowered by Mini-Stops and Starbucks), and only a few survive to this day.
But I still intend to find one and feed my craving.
monday music:
beautiful girl
JOSE MARI CHAN
I am aware that Jose Mari Chan is supposed to be like one of the greatest OPM composers or something, but I'm really just not a fan of his musical style and his writing prowess. He was particularly prolific in the '80s; his songs like Please Be Careful With My Heart and Christmas in Our Hearts were heavily played on local radio stations. I never appreciated them.
His other popular tune was Beautiful Girl. I revisited it a couple of months ago because I had a to teach a lesson on inner beauty to a group of young ladies, and one of the suggested activities was to have the group listen to Chan's Beautiful Girl. I did not have a CD or mp3, not even a tape of it, so I opted for the easy, free option of playing a You Tube video.
OMG, laugh trip.
I've always found this video pathetic and trying-too-hard; it used to make me cringe, smirk and roll my eyes. I thought that it would be embarrassing to show on MTV Asia, and a downright misrepresentation of Filipino talent. Right now seeing it makes me laugh.
By the way - Nice hair, girls. Especially Ate Vi.
Observe how skinny Mega used to be, and notice how different Regine Velasquez' nose (um, flat) and eyes (er, chinky) were back in the day.
What makes it extra funny is how after he is shown with all the "beautiful girls", it ends with an awkwardly inserted photo of him and his wife.
His other popular tune was Beautiful Girl. I revisited it a couple of months ago because I had a to teach a lesson on inner beauty to a group of young ladies, and one of the suggested activities was to have the group listen to Chan's Beautiful Girl. I did not have a CD or mp3, not even a tape of it, so I opted for the easy, free option of playing a You Tube video.
OMG, laugh trip.
I've always found this video pathetic and trying-too-hard; it used to make me cringe, smirk and roll my eyes. I thought that it would be embarrassing to show on MTV Asia, and a downright misrepresentation of Filipino talent. Right now seeing it makes me laugh.
By the way - Nice hair, girls. Especially Ate Vi.
Observe how skinny Mega used to be, and notice how different Regine Velasquez' nose (um, flat) and eyes (er, chinky) were back in the day.
What makes it extra funny is how after he is shown with all the "beautiful girls", it ends with an awkwardly inserted photo of him and his wife.
jejemon na pala ang bagong jologs?
Ang dami yatang ingay tungkol sa mga j3j3mOn ngayon - mula sa balita, sa mga comedy show hanggang sa pag-Twitter ni Justin Bieber. At affected na affected ang CHED sa kanilang mali-maling spelling. Jejemon na ang bagong jologs.
Pero hindi tungkol sa mga jejemon ang post na ito. Gusto ko lang balikan ang "jologs".
Una kong narinig ang salitang jologs noong mga 1994 o '95, mula sa kaibigan ko na nagme-metal-metalan noon. Tawag niya sa mga hiphop na squatter, jologs.
Walang nakatitiyak kung saan o paano nagmula ang salitang jologs. Sabi sa Urban Dictionary, daing + tuyo + itlog daw yon, pero tingin ko mali kasi wala namang "s" ang itlog.
Mas maniniwala pa ako sa theory ny pinsan ko, na ang jologs daw ay mula sa pangalan ni Jolina, at tumutukoy sa mga masang tumatangkilik sa kaniya.
Ayon naman sa kaibigan kong dating hiphop na sosyal, pinuna daw kasi ng mga bading ang mga trying-hard magpaka-hiphop, at sabi nila in gay linggo, "Naju-jologs ang jantalon nila" (translation: "Nahuhulog ang pantalon nila").
Sumikat ang salitang jologs it ginamit ito para tukuyin ang tao, lugar o bagay na baduy o maka-masa. Naalala ko pa na may test na umiikot sa e-mail na How Jologs are You? (wala pa kasing FB noon), na puro tanong tungkol sa That's Entertainment at mga Pinoy movies.
Naging pamagat pa yun ng isang pelikula ng Star Cinema, tampok ang mga sikat na mga batang artista. Wala namang kinalalaman sa jologs.
Ngayon, tulad ng salitang "bakya" at "baduy", parang nawawala na rin sa uso ang salitang jologs, na tipong pag ginamit mo magmumukha ka nang matanda. Kasi nga, jejemon na daw ang bagong jologZzz.
Pero hindi tungkol sa mga jejemon ang post na ito. Gusto ko lang balikan ang "jologs".
Una kong narinig ang salitang jologs noong mga 1994 o '95, mula sa kaibigan ko na nagme-metal-metalan noon. Tawag niya sa mga hiphop na squatter, jologs.
Walang nakatitiyak kung saan o paano nagmula ang salitang jologs. Sabi sa Urban Dictionary, daing + tuyo + itlog daw yon, pero tingin ko mali kasi wala namang "s" ang itlog.
Mas maniniwala pa ako sa theory ny pinsan ko, na ang jologs daw ay mula sa pangalan ni Jolina, at tumutukoy sa mga masang tumatangkilik sa kaniya.
Ayon naman sa kaibigan kong dating hiphop na sosyal, pinuna daw kasi ng mga bading ang mga trying-hard magpaka-hiphop, at sabi nila in gay linggo, "Naju-jologs ang jantalon nila" (translation: "Nahuhulog ang pantalon nila").
Sumikat ang salitang jologs it ginamit ito para tukuyin ang tao, lugar o bagay na baduy o maka-masa. Naalala ko pa na may test na umiikot sa e-mail na How Jologs are You? (wala pa kasing FB noon), na puro tanong tungkol sa That's Entertainment at mga Pinoy movies.
Naging pamagat pa yun ng isang pelikula ng Star Cinema, tampok ang mga sikat na mga batang artista. Wala namang kinalalaman sa jologs.
Ngayon, tulad ng salitang "bakya" at "baduy", parang nawawala na rin sa uso ang salitang jologs, na tipong pag ginamit mo magmumukha ka nang matanda. Kasi nga, jejemon na daw ang bagong jologZzz.
back when he made us look in the kaleidoscope
So it's been a year since he went away.
Image from here.
I'm not about to make a memorial entry like those that have sprouted all over in which I recount all the ways he changed the music scene and impacted lives, or I make a list of things that people already know about him. I just know it's his first death anniversary today, and I want to give him a place in this blog.
I don't remember how I heard the news of his passing; I just remember feeling a sense similar to but not quite devastation when I did. I was one of those cheesy pathetics who listened to old FrancisM hits and suddenly joined his Facebook fan page just to cope with the grief.
There's even this ambitious sense of "too bad I never met him".
I remember crushing on him as a teenager; I didn't even believe the reports that said he was arrested for possessing meth. Around that time (circa 1996) I was fortunate enough to see him up close at a Consortium (now known as a rave party) - he wore a leather vest, tattooed bare arms and his hair all spikey; he held a bottle of Blue Ice while he chilled. He was much better-looking in person, though I recall being surprised that he was, um, of Filipino height.
I first heard of Francis Magalona sometime in the mid-'80s (I was in kindergarten). He was in the cast of Bagets II (his first movie). He must have been fifteen or sixteen then, just one of those cute virtual nobodies known mostly for having famous parents. I suppose what gained him more popularity was being in Kuya Germs' That's Entertainment.
I guess what cemented his star status was his 1987 Wednesday night gig on Alma Moreno's Loveli-Ness. Through that variety show's Top Ten segment, Francis introduced rap to the Philippines and cultivated a fan base for it as he filled the air with his yes-yes-yo's. Honestly, I always found those yes-yes-yo's annoying - but I gotta admit I tuned in to that segment every Wednesday night. Eventually and naturally, he was acknowledged to be the Master Rapper and was later called FrancisM. Despite being associated with Alma Moreno, he defined a new breed of cool and created a niche for himself - and one only he could fill at that.
FrancisM was the first Pinoy rapper - and the only one among his contemporaries who lasted. Andrew E and Michael V have turned to comedy (which I think they are better at), lesser '90s rap artists like Lady Diane, Denmark et al are now nowhere.
In the early '90s, he came out with Mga Kababayan, which was groundbreaking in that day. He put an edgy spin to makabayan with his clever words and then-unique instrumentation. The singles in that album were heavily played and quick to become hits. People danced and created production numbers to the carrier Mga Kababayan; it was practically the themes song for every school's Linggo ng Wika.
Oh crap... I'm having a memory of that song and sarongs and a school presentation ...
Though Philippine Hip Hop is attributed to him, he sorta transcended genre - he had hits from old school rap to hip hop to funk metal to hardcore rap. In the mid-'90s, when hip hoppers and rockers couldn't bear to be within 50 meters of each other, FrancisM did the unthinkable: he made hybrid music with his Pinoy strain of rap metal - and succeeded.
He even did sappy R&B. Though his most popular "love song" is Cold Summer Nights, my personal fave is Be Mine.
It's been a year today, and I see people wearing FrancisM shirts in memory of the Man from Manila. His family and friends on Channel 7 sang his greatest hits including the poignant Kaleidoscope World. Though the production isn't powerful enough to move me to tears, I gotta admit it almost did.
Image from here.I'm not about to make a memorial entry like those that have sprouted all over in which I recount all the ways he changed the music scene and impacted lives, or I make a list of things that people already know about him. I just know it's his first death anniversary today, and I want to give him a place in this blog.
I don't remember how I heard the news of his passing; I just remember feeling a sense similar to but not quite devastation when I did. I was one of those cheesy pathetics who listened to old FrancisM hits and suddenly joined his Facebook fan page just to cope with the grief.
There's even this ambitious sense of "too bad I never met him".
I remember crushing on him as a teenager; I didn't even believe the reports that said he was arrested for possessing meth. Around that time (circa 1996) I was fortunate enough to see him up close at a Consortium (now known as a rave party) - he wore a leather vest, tattooed bare arms and his hair all spikey; he held a bottle of Blue Ice while he chilled. He was much better-looking in person, though I recall being surprised that he was, um, of Filipino height.
I first heard of Francis Magalona sometime in the mid-'80s (I was in kindergarten). He was in the cast of Bagets II (his first movie). He must have been fifteen or sixteen then, just one of those cute virtual nobodies known mostly for having famous parents. I suppose what gained him more popularity was being in Kuya Germs' That's Entertainment.
I guess what cemented his star status was his 1987 Wednesday night gig on Alma Moreno's Loveli-Ness. Through that variety show's Top Ten segment, Francis introduced rap to the Philippines and cultivated a fan base for it as he filled the air with his yes-yes-yo's. Honestly, I always found those yes-yes-yo's annoying - but I gotta admit I tuned in to that segment every Wednesday night. Eventually and naturally, he was acknowledged to be the Master Rapper and was later called FrancisM. Despite being associated with Alma Moreno, he defined a new breed of cool and created a niche for himself - and one only he could fill at that.
FrancisM was the first Pinoy rapper - and the only one among his contemporaries who lasted. Andrew E and Michael V have turned to comedy (which I think they are better at), lesser '90s rap artists like Lady Diane, Denmark et al are now nowhere.
In the early '90s, he came out with Mga Kababayan, which was groundbreaking in that day. He put an edgy spin to makabayan with his clever words and then-unique instrumentation. The singles in that album were heavily played and quick to become hits. People danced and created production numbers to the carrier Mga Kababayan; it was practically the themes song for every school's Linggo ng Wika.
Oh crap... I'm having a memory of that song and sarongs and a school presentation ...
Though Philippine Hip Hop is attributed to him, he sorta transcended genre - he had hits from old school rap to hip hop to funk metal to hardcore rap. In the mid-'90s, when hip hoppers and rockers couldn't bear to be within 50 meters of each other, FrancisM did the unthinkable: he made hybrid music with his Pinoy strain of rap metal - and succeeded.
He even did sappy R&B. Though his most popular "love song" is Cold Summer Nights, my personal fave is Be Mine.
It's been a year today, and I see people wearing FrancisM shirts in memory of the Man from Manila. His family and friends on Channel 7 sang his greatest hits including the poignant Kaleidoscope World. Though the production isn't powerful enough to move me to tears, I gotta admit it almost did.
back when i went to school with the kamikazee guys
Kakakita ko lang sa kanila sa game show kaninang umaga. Tapos nakita ko sila ulet sa commercial. Tapos narinig ko ang kanta nila sa kinainan kong restaurant. Tapos, pag-uwi ko, nag-check ako ng Facebook at sinendan nila ako link para sa bago nilang music video.
Sikat na talaga sila ngayon, at big-time na sila. Who would have thought?
Dati kasi, mga kaeskwela ko sila.
1999 noon, nung na-form yung banda nila. Hindi ko alam kung paano, basta nalaman ko na lang na may banda na yung magkakaibigan. Sa UP Fine Arts kasi, bisyo ng mga estudyante doon gumawa ng banda. Araw-araw yata may bagong bandang nabubuo (Bisyo din namin ang mag-jamming at magsulat ng kanta during class hours, at mag-drawing ng kung-anu-ano sa pader, dahil madalas nawawala ang mga guro).
Isang araw sa computer lab, gumagawa ako ng plate ko sa Photoshop 5. Photoshop 5 pa lang noon. Nasa kaliwa ko ang kaibigan kong si Larry, at nasa kanan ko ang kaibigan niyang si Puto, tumitingin ng porno (hindi ko kini-criticize ang gawain niyang yun, kinukwento ko lang). Yung porno dala niya sa diskette; wala pang portable USB noon. Hindi ko maalala kung kaklase talaga namin si Puto or kung nakikigamit lang siya ng computer, basta alam ko kaibigan siya ni Larry (Sa College of Payn Arts kasi, iniiwan-iwan lang kami ng mga teacher, at libre kaming gumala-gala at lumabas-pasok sa klase nang may klase, kahit during class hours. Normal lang noon na may kasama ka sa classroom na hindi namin kaklase).
Sa araw na yun, biglang may pumasok na maingay at nakipagkwentuhan. Nandun lang sila sa tabi ko, at mga kakilala ko naman sila, so medyo mahirap na hindi sumali.
Si Roel pala yung dumating, ka-batch namin. May dala siyang drawing na pinagkakaguluhan - mga caricature ito ng iba pa naming mga ka-batch, kasama si Puto. Tinignan ko yung drawing - makulay at mahusay ang pagkakaguhit, parang pang-jacket ng demo CD. "May bagong banda na naman?," sabi ko.
Kuhang-kuha yung mga itsura nila, makikilala mo talaga yung mga taong naka-drawing, lalo na si Puto kasi kulay pula na may stripes yung buhok. Nakilala ko rin ang mga mukha nina Led at Hec. Kasama rin doon sina Allan at Jomal, na noon ay may iba pang banda. Ang tawag sa bagong grupo ay Kamikazee Kornflakes (obviously, gusto nila ang grupong Korn); nu metal yata ang trip nila.
Sa dinami-dami ng mga banda sa amin noon, hindi ko akalain na tatagal at sisikat ang bagong banda nilang yon.
Naka-ilang gig ang Kamikazee Kornflakes, pasama-sama lang noong una sa Parokya ni Edgar na sikat na sikat na by that time. Dinadala sila ng Parokya sa mga gig, dahil ayon kay Hec, "tuwang-tuwa" daw sa kanila si Chito (vocalist ng Parokya, na isa rin naming kaeskwela). Doon sila unti-unting nakilala at nagkapangalan.
Si Hec: Ang original na vocalist
Wala masyadong nakakaalam, at hindi ko alam kung may nakakaalala pa na ang unang vocalist ng Kamikazee Kornflakes ay si Hector. Ibang-iba siya sa kasalukuyang vocalist na si Jay. Medyo pa-poging athlete ang dating ni Hec, habang si Jay naman rocker na rocker na may artist effect. Pero pareho silang makulit na may bastos na humor.
Kinailangan iwanan ni Hec ang banda noong 2000, kasi graduating daw siya. Medyo hindi ko yun ma-gets, kasi lahat naman sila graduating 'nun.
Some time ago, tinanong ko si Hec kung pinangsisisihan niyang iniwan niya ang Kamikazee ngayong sikat na sila. Ang sabi niya, hindi daw talaga. Hindi niya siguro type ang rock-and-roll lifestyle.
Nothing against Hec, pero mukhang masmabuti na naging vocalist nila si Jay. Napaka kuwela at napakaharot kasi ni Jay, bagay na bagay na frontman, at siya talaga ang nagdadala sa banda.
Si Jay
Noong mga freshman kami, akala naming lahat na schoolmate namin yung kulot na maloko na laging naka-tight fit na T-shirt at bell-bottom jeans. Inisip namin na taga-doon siya sa ibang block; akala naman ng ibang block taga-amin siya. Yun pala, ni hindi namin siya ka-eskwela. Nakiki-tambay lang pala siya sa college namin pag tapos na ang klase niya. Malupit talaga ang tambay hours niya para akalain namin na studyante siya doon. Nakiki-gawa pa nga siya ng mga plates namin.
Una ko siyang nakilala 'nung first year first sem, sa street-painting contest na sponsored ng isang sorority. Ka-team ko ang tatlo sa mga ka-block ko, at katabi namin sa kalsada ang mga taga-Industrial Design block na bitbit si Jay. May dala siyang alagang lizard na tinali niya sa poste sa tabi ng daan (namatay din noong gabing iyon; natapakan). Ang team nila ang nanalo ng Third Place dahil nilalandi nila yung mga sorority girls.
May negosyo si Jay noon na buy-and-sell ng mga exotic pets (ahas, sawa, daga, lizard, iguana, etc). Bibili siya sa Cartimar, tapos ibebenta niya sa school - so panay ang baon niya ng kung-anu-anong hayop.
May kwentong barbero siya nung minsan na bumili siya ng ahas sa Cartimar, pati ng daga at sisiw na ipapakain sana sa ahas. Nag-tricycle daw siya papunta sa sakayan. Pagbaba daw niya ng trycicle, wala na yung sisiw. Tumawag siya ng taxi at sumakay. Pagbaba, daga na lang ang dala niya at may kawawang driver na may ahas sa taxi.
Dahil madalas siyang may dalang iguana, tinawag ko siyang "Iguana Jay", para ma-differentiate siya sa ibang mga Jay ang pangalan; ang dami kasi nilang Jay sa FA noon.
Mas bumenta ang isa pang nickname na binigay ko sa kanya: "Jay Becklog". Madalas niya kasing suot ang white T-shirt na pininturahan niya ng malaking oblong at ni-label na becklog.
Tinawag ko siyang Beck for short. Tinawag niya naman akong Goth kasi mukha daw akong mangangain ng bata.
'Nung third year na kami, nag-enroll na siya sa ibang school, so bihira na namin siyang makita, pero nag-stay in touch pa rin siya sa amin.
Si Led at Si Puto
Hindi ko sila actually naging kaibigan , pero kilala ko sila dahil ka-college ko sila. Madalas ko silang makita at maka-tambay dahil kabarkada sila ng mga kaibigan ko. Madalas din silang dumadalaw sa classroom namin.
Si Puto noon pa may reputation na kwela. Jason ang totoo niyang pangalan, pero nagsimulang tawagin siyang "Puto" noong Summer Art Workshop (bago mag-first year). Medyo feeling chicano sila noon eh.
Si Led naman, reputation niya pogi boy. Medyo heartthrob siya na iniiyakan ng isang kaklase ko dahil may girlfriend siya na super ganda. Clean-cut siya noon at wala pa siyang mga tattoo o hikaw. Led Zepplin ang totoo niyang pangalan, mula sa sikat na banda noong taong ipinanganak siya (Sa pagkakaalam ko, silang lahat ng mga kapatid niya, ipinangalan sa mga rock artist. Astig din kasi ang tatay niya, isang sikat na photographer).
Si Jomal
Si Jomal naging ka-batch namin dahil sa isang sadistang Prof na ayaw siyang patawarin sa isang subject. Naging kaklase ko siya sa subject na yun. Bago ko siya nakilala, nakikita ko lang sila ng barkada niya na patambay-tambay at nag-iingay. Tawag sa kanila ng higher batch, "Istorboys", dahil super kulit nila at nakaka-istorbo during class hours. Tumino lang sila nung isa-isa na silang nagkaroon ng mga girlfriend na super ganda.
Nung nakilala ko si Jomal, mabait naman pala, at sensitive din. At lalo akong natuwa sa kaniya nung binara niya yung class kupal namin.
Naging supplier ako ni Jomal ng styling gel (wala pang hair wax o clay noon). Nung college kasi, pareho kami ng hairstyle - super ikli na kailangan lagyan ng gel. Nag-iiwan ako ng supply ng gel sa locker (yung cheap lang na brand, para hindi nakakapanghinayang kung may humingi). Nung nalaman ni Jomal na may gel ako sa locker, hindi na siya nagbaon ng sarili niya at humihingi na lang sa akin.
Nung 1999 nag-decide ako mag-quit sa paninigarilyo dahil gusto kong mamuhay nang kalugod-lugod sa Diyos (yehehesssss!). Hindi ko pa alam noon na last yosi ever ko na yon nung July 1999, sa back-to-school concert sa College of Fine Arts. Ang kahuli-hulihang yosi ko, nanggaling kay Jomal. Ang buhay estudyante, medyo tag-hirap, so medyo share-share din ang mga magkakaibigan sa bisyo; karaniwan lang sa amin ang nagshe-share ng yosi (kung ngayong mga can-afford na kami at babalik-tanawin namin ang pagsasalo ng dalawa o tatlong tao sa isang sigarilyo, medyo kadiri pala, haha). Nung gabing yon, ilan kaming nanonood ng programa mula sa likod ng studio, nakaupo sa kahoy na hindi dapat inuupuan. Tinabihan ako ni Jomal at nakipagkwentuhan. Naglabas siya ng yosi at sinindihan, at inabot niya sa akin. Huling yosi na niya iyon para sa gabi, at huling yosi ko na para sa buong buhay ko. Kung tutuusin hindi naman kami ganun ka-close pero dahil lang doon hindi ko siya makakalimutan.
Si Allan
Wala pang mga tatoo si Allan noon, pero astig na siya. Hindi pa siya skinhead, in fact long hair siya noon. Yung buhok niya kinaiinggitan ng mga babae dahil super-straight na parang ni-rebond, pwedeng pang-shampoo commercial. Nakilala siya sa college namin bilang mahusay na drummer; marami siyang mga banda, kabilang na ang ilang death metal band, at isang showband.
Si Allan, a.k.a. Bords, never ko naging kaklase, pero madalas ko siyang ka-tambay at kainuman noon, at nakakasama sa mga out-of town barkada gimmick. For some reason, madalas kaming nag-aaway ni Allan - pero mabilis rin naman kaming pinagbabati ng iba pa naming kaibigan. Sa kanya ko unang narinig yung mga salitang "Nakakalalake ka na ha!", dahil yun yung lagi niyang sinasabi sakin kung gusto niya akong suntukin dahil sa pikon pero alam niyang hindi dapat siya pumapatol sa babae. Merong isang beses na ako ang nanuntok sa kanya; buti na lang gentleman siya at nag-walk-out na lang. Pero nakakatakot actually kaaway si Allan kung lalaki ka, kasi ang laki niyang tao at sanay siya sa away-kanto. Na-witness ko na siyang mambugbog ng upperclassman - as in, bugbog.
Naalala ko pa yung isa sa mga away naming saksakan ng babaw, naganap nung first sem ng second year. Seryosong pikunan, pero comedy ang kinalabasan:
Allan: (Nag-drawing ng truck para sa isang plate; kinulayan ito ng yellow-green at violet)
Me: Ayus yan ah, parang Constructicon.
Allan: (Gulat) Alam mo yun?
Me: Oo naman. Nanood naman ako ng TransFormers nung bata ako 'no. Diba kalaban nila yung Dinobots? Anim sila, tapos fino-form nila si Devastator. "I. Am. Devastator!"
Allan: Lima lang sila.
Me: Anim.
Allan: Lima!
Me: Anim kaya no!
Allan: P*#@, lima lang! Shut up! Hindi mo alam yun dahil babae ka at puro Rainbow Brite at Care Bear lang ang alam mo!
Buti na lang na sumingit ang classmate namin na si Ace (na isa na ngayong direktor, at siyang nag-direct ng ilan sa mga video ng Kamikazee) at sinabing, "Anim. Isa pa yung sa ulo!" Eh di tama ako. Ako naman diniin ko pa.
Last year lang, nagka-reunion kaming magkakaeskwela. Naalala namin ni Allan na panay ang away namin noon, pero hindi na namin maalala kung ano ang mga pinag-aawayan namin. Ang naaalala ko, madalas na ko ang may kasalanan ... kung iisipin, maldita nga yata talaga ako at marami akong mga nakaaway na ka-eskwela, pati na mga guro. hee hee hee :p Buti na lang mature na kami ngayon at tinawanan na lang namin ang mga bagay na yon.
Pagkatapos ng college, hindi na ako nakapag-stay in touch kahit kanino, maliban na lang nung nagkaroon na ng mga social networking sites. Nakita ko na lang isang araw sa Myx ang isang live performance nila ng Chinelas. Nakilala ko agad si Jay noong nakita ko siya sa TV, bago ko pa man nakita yung nakalagay na Kamikazee sa ibaba ng frame. Nagtaka ako kung bakit Kamikazee na lang at nawala ang Kornflakes. Nagtaka rin ako kung anong nangyari kay Hec, pero naliwanagan rin ako nung mag-lunch kami nina Hec at Larry isang araw sa Makati noong 2003.
Nung nag-aaral pa kami sa UP, nakahingi ako ng mga drawing mula sa mga ka-eskwela ko. Remembrance kuno, pero pagkatapos ng ilang taon tinapon ko rin noong nagligpit ako ng bahay. Kung alam ko lang na sisikat sila, sana hindi ko na lang tinapon para may collectors' item kunwari ako. Hindi ko naman kasi naisip na ang isang banda 'yon na basta-basta lang binuo ng ilang mga magkakaibigan ay papatok sa masa balang araw.
Sikat na talaga sila ngayon, at big-time na sila. Who would have thought?
Dati kasi, mga kaeskwela ko sila.
1999 noon, nung na-form yung banda nila. Hindi ko alam kung paano, basta nalaman ko na lang na may banda na yung magkakaibigan. Sa UP Fine Arts kasi, bisyo ng mga estudyante doon gumawa ng banda. Araw-araw yata may bagong bandang nabubuo (Bisyo din namin ang mag-jamming at magsulat ng kanta during class hours, at mag-drawing ng kung-anu-ano sa pader, dahil madalas nawawala ang mga guro).
Isang araw sa computer lab, gumagawa ako ng plate ko sa Photoshop 5. Photoshop 5 pa lang noon. Nasa kaliwa ko ang kaibigan kong si Larry, at nasa kanan ko ang kaibigan niyang si Puto, tumitingin ng porno (hindi ko kini-criticize ang gawain niyang yun, kinukwento ko lang). Yung porno dala niya sa diskette; wala pang portable USB noon. Hindi ko maalala kung kaklase talaga namin si Puto or kung nakikigamit lang siya ng computer, basta alam ko kaibigan siya ni Larry (Sa College of Payn Arts kasi, iniiwan-iwan lang kami ng mga teacher, at libre kaming gumala-gala at lumabas-pasok sa klase nang may klase, kahit during class hours. Normal lang noon na may kasama ka sa classroom na hindi namin kaklase).
Sa araw na yun, biglang may pumasok na maingay at nakipagkwentuhan. Nandun lang sila sa tabi ko, at mga kakilala ko naman sila, so medyo mahirap na hindi sumali.
Si Roel pala yung dumating, ka-batch namin. May dala siyang drawing na pinagkakaguluhan - mga caricature ito ng iba pa naming mga ka-batch, kasama si Puto. Tinignan ko yung drawing - makulay at mahusay ang pagkakaguhit, parang pang-jacket ng demo CD. "May bagong banda na naman?," sabi ko.
Kuhang-kuha yung mga itsura nila, makikilala mo talaga yung mga taong naka-drawing, lalo na si Puto kasi kulay pula na may stripes yung buhok. Nakilala ko rin ang mga mukha nina Led at Hec. Kasama rin doon sina Allan at Jomal, na noon ay may iba pang banda. Ang tawag sa bagong grupo ay Kamikazee Kornflakes (obviously, gusto nila ang grupong Korn); nu metal yata ang trip nila.
Sa dinami-dami ng mga banda sa amin noon, hindi ko akalain na tatagal at sisikat ang bagong banda nilang yon.
Naka-ilang gig ang Kamikazee Kornflakes, pasama-sama lang noong una sa Parokya ni Edgar na sikat na sikat na by that time. Dinadala sila ng Parokya sa mga gig, dahil ayon kay Hec, "tuwang-tuwa" daw sa kanila si Chito (vocalist ng Parokya, na isa rin naming kaeskwela). Doon sila unti-unting nakilala at nagkapangalan.
Si Hec: Ang original na vocalist
Wala masyadong nakakaalam, at hindi ko alam kung may nakakaalala pa na ang unang vocalist ng Kamikazee Kornflakes ay si Hector. Ibang-iba siya sa kasalukuyang vocalist na si Jay. Medyo pa-poging athlete ang dating ni Hec, habang si Jay naman rocker na rocker na may artist effect. Pero pareho silang makulit na may bastos na humor.
Kinailangan iwanan ni Hec ang banda noong 2000, kasi graduating daw siya. Medyo hindi ko yun ma-gets, kasi lahat naman sila graduating 'nun.
Some time ago, tinanong ko si Hec kung pinangsisisihan niyang iniwan niya ang Kamikazee ngayong sikat na sila. Ang sabi niya, hindi daw talaga. Hindi niya siguro type ang rock-and-roll lifestyle.
Nothing against Hec, pero mukhang masmabuti na naging vocalist nila si Jay. Napaka kuwela at napakaharot kasi ni Jay, bagay na bagay na frontman, at siya talaga ang nagdadala sa banda.
Si Jay
Noong mga freshman kami, akala naming lahat na schoolmate namin yung kulot na maloko na laging naka-tight fit na T-shirt at bell-bottom jeans. Inisip namin na taga-doon siya sa ibang block; akala naman ng ibang block taga-amin siya. Yun pala, ni hindi namin siya ka-eskwela. Nakiki-tambay lang pala siya sa college namin pag tapos na ang klase niya. Malupit talaga ang tambay hours niya para akalain namin na studyante siya doon. Nakiki-gawa pa nga siya ng mga plates namin.
Una ko siyang nakilala 'nung first year first sem, sa street-painting contest na sponsored ng isang sorority. Ka-team ko ang tatlo sa mga ka-block ko, at katabi namin sa kalsada ang mga taga-Industrial Design block na bitbit si Jay. May dala siyang alagang lizard na tinali niya sa poste sa tabi ng daan (namatay din noong gabing iyon; natapakan). Ang team nila ang nanalo ng Third Place dahil nilalandi nila yung mga sorority girls.
May negosyo si Jay noon na buy-and-sell ng mga exotic pets (ahas, sawa, daga, lizard, iguana, etc). Bibili siya sa Cartimar, tapos ibebenta niya sa school - so panay ang baon niya ng kung-anu-anong hayop.
May kwentong barbero siya nung minsan na bumili siya ng ahas sa Cartimar, pati ng daga at sisiw na ipapakain sana sa ahas. Nag-tricycle daw siya papunta sa sakayan. Pagbaba daw niya ng trycicle, wala na yung sisiw. Tumawag siya ng taxi at sumakay. Pagbaba, daga na lang ang dala niya at may kawawang driver na may ahas sa taxi.
Dahil madalas siyang may dalang iguana, tinawag ko siyang "Iguana Jay", para ma-differentiate siya sa ibang mga Jay ang pangalan; ang dami kasi nilang Jay sa FA noon.
Mas bumenta ang isa pang nickname na binigay ko sa kanya: "Jay Becklog". Madalas niya kasing suot ang white T-shirt na pininturahan niya ng malaking oblong at ni-label na becklog.
Tinawag ko siyang Beck for short. Tinawag niya naman akong Goth kasi mukha daw akong mangangain ng bata.
'Nung third year na kami, nag-enroll na siya sa ibang school, so bihira na namin siyang makita, pero nag-stay in touch pa rin siya sa amin.
Si Led at Si Puto
Hindi ko sila actually naging kaibigan , pero kilala ko sila dahil ka-college ko sila. Madalas ko silang makita at maka-tambay dahil kabarkada sila ng mga kaibigan ko. Madalas din silang dumadalaw sa classroom namin.
Si Puto noon pa may reputation na kwela. Jason ang totoo niyang pangalan, pero nagsimulang tawagin siyang "Puto" noong Summer Art Workshop (bago mag-first year). Medyo feeling chicano sila noon eh.
Si Led naman, reputation niya pogi boy. Medyo heartthrob siya na iniiyakan ng isang kaklase ko dahil may girlfriend siya na super ganda. Clean-cut siya noon at wala pa siyang mga tattoo o hikaw. Led Zepplin ang totoo niyang pangalan, mula sa sikat na banda noong taong ipinanganak siya (Sa pagkakaalam ko, silang lahat ng mga kapatid niya, ipinangalan sa mga rock artist. Astig din kasi ang tatay niya, isang sikat na photographer).
Si Jomal
Si Jomal naging ka-batch namin dahil sa isang sadistang Prof na ayaw siyang patawarin sa isang subject. Naging kaklase ko siya sa subject na yun. Bago ko siya nakilala, nakikita ko lang sila ng barkada niya na patambay-tambay at nag-iingay. Tawag sa kanila ng higher batch, "Istorboys", dahil super kulit nila at nakaka-istorbo during class hours. Tumino lang sila nung isa-isa na silang nagkaroon ng mga girlfriend na super ganda.
Nung nakilala ko si Jomal, mabait naman pala, at sensitive din. At lalo akong natuwa sa kaniya nung binara niya yung class kupal namin.
Naging supplier ako ni Jomal ng styling gel (wala pang hair wax o clay noon). Nung college kasi, pareho kami ng hairstyle - super ikli na kailangan lagyan ng gel. Nag-iiwan ako ng supply ng gel sa locker (yung cheap lang na brand, para hindi nakakapanghinayang kung may humingi). Nung nalaman ni Jomal na may gel ako sa locker, hindi na siya nagbaon ng sarili niya at humihingi na lang sa akin.
Nung 1999 nag-decide ako mag-quit sa paninigarilyo dahil gusto kong mamuhay nang kalugod-lugod sa Diyos (yehehesssss!). Hindi ko pa alam noon na last yosi ever ko na yon nung July 1999, sa back-to-school concert sa College of Fine Arts. Ang kahuli-hulihang yosi ko, nanggaling kay Jomal. Ang buhay estudyante, medyo tag-hirap, so medyo share-share din ang mga magkakaibigan sa bisyo; karaniwan lang sa amin ang nagshe-share ng yosi (kung ngayong mga can-afford na kami at babalik-tanawin namin ang pagsasalo ng dalawa o tatlong tao sa isang sigarilyo, medyo kadiri pala, haha). Nung gabing yon, ilan kaming nanonood ng programa mula sa likod ng studio, nakaupo sa kahoy na hindi dapat inuupuan. Tinabihan ako ni Jomal at nakipagkwentuhan. Naglabas siya ng yosi at sinindihan, at inabot niya sa akin. Huling yosi na niya iyon para sa gabi, at huling yosi ko na para sa buong buhay ko. Kung tutuusin hindi naman kami ganun ka-close pero dahil lang doon hindi ko siya makakalimutan.
Si Allan
Wala pang mga tatoo si Allan noon, pero astig na siya. Hindi pa siya skinhead, in fact long hair siya noon. Yung buhok niya kinaiinggitan ng mga babae dahil super-straight na parang ni-rebond, pwedeng pang-shampoo commercial. Nakilala siya sa college namin bilang mahusay na drummer; marami siyang mga banda, kabilang na ang ilang death metal band, at isang showband.
Si Allan, a.k.a. Bords, never ko naging kaklase, pero madalas ko siyang ka-tambay at kainuman noon, at nakakasama sa mga out-of town barkada gimmick. For some reason, madalas kaming nag-aaway ni Allan - pero mabilis rin naman kaming pinagbabati ng iba pa naming kaibigan. Sa kanya ko unang narinig yung mga salitang "Nakakalalake ka na ha!", dahil yun yung lagi niyang sinasabi sakin kung gusto niya akong suntukin dahil sa pikon pero alam niyang hindi dapat siya pumapatol sa babae. Merong isang beses na ako ang nanuntok sa kanya; buti na lang gentleman siya at nag-walk-out na lang. Pero nakakatakot actually kaaway si Allan kung lalaki ka, kasi ang laki niyang tao at sanay siya sa away-kanto. Na-witness ko na siyang mambugbog ng upperclassman - as in, bugbog.
Naalala ko pa yung isa sa mga away naming saksakan ng babaw, naganap nung first sem ng second year. Seryosong pikunan, pero comedy ang kinalabasan:
Allan: (Nag-drawing ng truck para sa isang plate; kinulayan ito ng yellow-green at violet)
Me: Ayus yan ah, parang Constructicon.
Allan: (Gulat) Alam mo yun?
Me: Oo naman. Nanood naman ako ng TransFormers nung bata ako 'no. Diba kalaban nila yung Dinobots? Anim sila, tapos fino-form nila si Devastator. "I. Am. Devastator!"
Allan: Lima lang sila.
Me: Anim.
Allan: Lima!
Me: Anim kaya no!
Allan: P*#@, lima lang! Shut up! Hindi mo alam yun dahil babae ka at puro Rainbow Brite at Care Bear lang ang alam mo!
Buti na lang na sumingit ang classmate namin na si Ace (na isa na ngayong direktor, at siyang nag-direct ng ilan sa mga video ng Kamikazee) at sinabing, "Anim. Isa pa yung sa ulo!" Eh di tama ako. Ako naman diniin ko pa.
Last year lang, nagka-reunion kaming magkakaeskwela. Naalala namin ni Allan na panay ang away namin noon, pero hindi na namin maalala kung ano ang mga pinag-aawayan namin. Ang naaalala ko, madalas na ko ang may kasalanan ... kung iisipin, maldita nga yata talaga ako at marami akong mga nakaaway na ka-eskwela, pati na mga guro. hee hee hee :p Buti na lang mature na kami ngayon at tinawanan na lang namin ang mga bagay na yon.
Pagkatapos ng college, hindi na ako nakapag-stay in touch kahit kanino, maliban na lang nung nagkaroon na ng mga social networking sites. Nakita ko na lang isang araw sa Myx ang isang live performance nila ng Chinelas. Nakilala ko agad si Jay noong nakita ko siya sa TV, bago ko pa man nakita yung nakalagay na Kamikazee sa ibaba ng frame. Nagtaka ako kung bakit Kamikazee na lang at nawala ang Kornflakes. Nagtaka rin ako kung anong nangyari kay Hec, pero naliwanagan rin ako nung mag-lunch kami nina Hec at Larry isang araw sa Makati noong 2003.
Nung nag-aaral pa kami sa UP, nakahingi ako ng mga drawing mula sa mga ka-eskwela ko. Remembrance kuno, pero pagkatapos ng ilang taon tinapon ko rin noong nagligpit ako ng bahay. Kung alam ko lang na sisikat sila, sana hindi ko na lang tinapon para may collectors' item kunwari ako. Hindi ko naman kasi naisip na ang isang banda 'yon na basta-basta lang binuo ng ilang mga magkakaibigan ay papatok sa masa balang araw.
back when edsa happened
Photo mine.
I was too young to fully grasp the gravity of what was really happening, but I was old enough to understand something was going on.
I was eight years old. It was 1986. I wasn't sure what all the commotion about but I was happy that school was canceled for several days. All I understood at that time was that the whole nation was divided about Marcos and Cory. As a kid I always thought of President Marcos as a nice guy; my grandfather sorta knew him. And there was this nice lady named Cory who was running for president against him.
All I knew as a child about Cory was that she was the widow of Ninoy, the guy who they said was shot by Marcos' guys a few years earlier (I didn't quite get it then but I saw videos of his bloody body in the news; he was shot in the head and the bullet exited through his chin, my classmate told me). And she always wore yellow, Ninoy's signature color. And that the First Lady looked down on her for her umanicured fingernails (I even remember a cleverly laid-out magazine spread showing a photo of a smirking Imelda beside a shot of a smiling Cory holding up her hands to show her nails). Everybody seemed to like her, so i decided that I liked her as well.
A lot of people seemed to start hating Marcos. Before school got canceled, it was fashionable for kids to ask each other "Are you for Marcos or for Cory?," even if we didn't quite know what the heck we were talking about. I assumed that because he was the current president I was supposed to be for him, so without thinking I had answered, "Marcos". That was when my young activist friends educated me about his evils. I heard that he stole a lot of money and had a lot of people killed. Exactly how and why he did that, I didn't know how or why. I just started seeing him as evil incarnate, and out of peer pressure, I switched my vote to Cory.
There was Marcos-Tolentino, red and blue, on one side.
Cory-Doy, yellow and green on the other.
It was that time that I heard terms like "snap elections"and "democracy".
Songs like "Magkaisa", "Handog ng Pilipino sa Mundo" and "Bayan Ko" floated about, even until the next few years.
Yellow was the color of the day.
I didn't exactly know why we didn't have classes, but as the adults at home were glued to the news, I knew there were crowds in the streets, and tanks and soldiers. And nuns. June Keithley kept us constantly updated on Channel 4.
My mom participated in some of the crowd activity. I heard later that she had a serving of tear gas.
As for my dad, i didn't see him for days. He was in the military and worked in the Department of National Defense. I learned later that he was one of the first RAM boys, or those men in the Reform the Armed Forces Movement - rebels in the eyes of the administration, heroes to everyone else (At that particular time, it was a good thing to be in the opposition, that was Cory's side). My Dad was detained by his work for days at Camp Aguinaldo with Defense Minister Enrile (back then, they were called "minister" instead of "secretary"), General Ramos and a number of military men.
After a few days of Papa's absence from home, Mama gathered some of his shirts and stuff in a plastic bag and walked to the Camp Aguinaldo main gate (the house where we used to live was in a village just beside Camp Aguinaldo, it must have been one or two kilometers' walk). The gate was barred, enforced and heavily guarded; people were having a ruckus just outside. Mama went up to the gate with her plastic bag (she was never intimidated by soldiers, she grew up seeing them since my grandfather was a general) and slung it over to the top of the bars, where Papa was perched waiting for her delivery.
I would have considered that real sweet, except that only I learned about it after they were already separated, so there.
During this whole historic going-on, Papa dropped by the house briefly once; he just had to grab some stuff and then return to work immediately. I missed him a lot so I greeted him with a hug, but I pulled away as soon as I realized he stank from days without a shower. He showed us the Philippine flag patches that they wore on their arms: on the sleeve of his thick, rough uniform was a square of sturdy fabric with a print of the flag, red side up (It wasn't sewn on; it was held by four safety pins). And then he was off again, gone for another while. I wondered if I was wrong to worry if he could die in all that. Well, he didn't - it was a peaceful revolution, after all. He came home after a few more days, smelling worse.
After the whole revolution was over, my aunt showed me Papa's name in the newspaper, saying, "Do you know, your dad's a hero!"
By the way - Papa has numerous People Power souvenirs, a lot of them more interesting than stuff in most people's collections. He not only has button pins, Cory-Doy campaign merchandise, coffee table books and People Power comics. He was keen to make himself a photocopy of the yellow pad Enrile and Ramos used as a sign-up sheet (Papa's name was signed right there on the first page). He had the button pins and paraphernalia that RAM boys used; he also kept those flag fabric-patches that he wore, as well as the safety pins. He even has an Enrile-autographed book, and shrapnel from the scene.His souvenirs were later useful for me in high school when our class put together a People Power memorabilia exhibit for Social Studies.
Newsmen kept tabs on Enrile, Ramos and the RAM boys at that time that they were standing off against Marcos. On television were clips of uniformed men with large guns on the roof of the buildings of the Department of National Defense and AFP Headquarters in Aguinaldo. The likes of Gringo Honasan, Red Kapunan and Tiger Tecson became celebrities.
There is this clip that became iconic and popular, and has been used for documentaries on the Edsa Revolution: Enrile was on the telephone with Marcos one evening, surrounded by soldiers and media men. In a precise but emphatic manner, like a scene in a movie, he said, "Mr. President, your time is up." My dad happened to be in that very room and witnessed - participated in - that actual event.
As we were all committed to our TV set, keeping updated, we pretty soon saw images of kids and nuns giving flowers to soldiers on Edsa, rioters vandalizing paintings in Malacanang. It was utter anarchy, but there was a whole sense of happiness going on. News reporters and TV personalities weeping and hugging each other.
My brother and I, young as we were, made an appearance at Edsa too, with my mom, her friends and some relatives. I didn't even know what was going on, it just seemed real big; I didn't even know it was important, or historical. I have a vague recollection of things, which includes a memory of Cardinal Sin making a speech and a mass of yellow balloons. Street vendors were selling yellow button pins, yellow ribbons and headbands, yellow Cory shirts, Ninoy shirts that said "Hindi ka nag-iisa", Cory dolls, Cory everything. I took home a little Cory rag doll - which looked nothing like her, but you knew it was her because of the yellow dress, the curly black yarn for hair and the looped-wire glasses.
I caught a tiny glimpse of the real Cory by the way, at the PMA graduation in Baguio a few weeks later - a little yellow speck behind a waving yellow flag. Everyone seemed so happy at that time, like it was a massive national celebration.
And oh, I had some photos taken with Gringo, who was then a hero (but was later a national nuisance, and then a fugitive, and then a Senator, and then a wanted man again).
The following schoolyear, students had new details to memorize for Philippine History class - names, dates and events in relation to the People Power Revolution. Details that were apparently immensely important enough for publishing houses to produce updated textbooks immediately for the next semester.
The Philippines made world headlines for awhile for People Power, the peaceful revolution, as well as for the goings-on that led up to it.
February 25 became a new Philippine holiday.
Cory became the first woman president in the world. She became Time Magazine's Person of the Year. She brought back democracy, they say; she gave a fresh start for the Filipinos.
In a while, the Cory magic seemed to fade. People were verbally bashing her left and right, there were numerous coups, fiery oppositions and counter-cases for libel. The image of Cory the hero seemed to have disintegrated into Cory the intellectually-challenged housewife. I then wondered what made people change their minds about someone they previously venerated, why and how someone so adored became someone so widely hated. I thought maybe it was partially her annoying youngest daughter who suddenly became an actress who couldn't act.
Of course, years and other presidents later, I came to understand.
The magic was reignited last August 2009 when she came to rest, and people forgave her her wrongs. Yellow flooded the streets again, yellow ribbons were ubiquitous - I found it fascinating that designers coincidentally decided that yellow was the color of the year (even before her death). People brought out their "Edsa" stories and souvenirs, "Magkaisa" was again given airplay. The whole country was once more glued to their television screens to witness a common event - this time, it was Madam Cory's funeral. From the glorious sendoff the citizens gave her, it is clear she will always be a symbol of freedom in this country, despite all the bad memories she left us with.
Photo mine. Taken at Cory and Ninoy's site at Manila Memorial Park.On the 24th anniversary of People Power, i find myself not really caring. Perhaps I was too young when it happened so I don't ever get emotional about it. I just saw Ramos and some personalities walk arm-in-arm, Edsa style, toward the People Power monument. I've been watching studio-23 telecasts of A Dangerous Life, an HBO miniseries on the Edsa Revolution and the events leading up to it (It's boring, but informative. But i heard it's more fictional than factual, so I take it with a bit of salt). I suppose that next year, the 25th Anniversary, there will be a huge celebration coinciding with the release of a compilation album and the opening of several exhibits.
back when rivermaya was a sellout band
In a segment of last night's news, a reporter interviewed celebrities for their opinions on a COMELEC proposal to basically ban entertainers from endorsing candidates for the upcoming elections. In a brief snippette were a few members of the rock band Rivermaya - endorsers of presidentiable Gibo Teodoro and performers of his campaign jingle. I caught a glimpse of guitarist Mike Elgar and couldn't help noticing that he still looks a lot like he used to in high school.
I also couldn't help notice that the band called Rivermaya is an immensely different reincarnation of the band that was born sometime in the early nineties. Aside from the member overhaul, they kinda even have an all-new sound and overall personality.
I never was a fan of Rivermaya. I always found their songs ... er... too ... mainstream. The lyrics are clever (but not brilliant), their music kinda lacks edge and personality, like they were the kind of band that was afraid to experiment or go too extreme because it's all about producing something entirely "sellable". I don't know for sure of course; it's all just my opinion. "Rivermaya has always been a sellout kind of band," some stranger told me once in retrospect. And yeah, one could say they were good artists in a mainstream, pop-rock, sellout kind of way.
It was 1994 when Rivermaya's first single Ulan, was first (over)played. I was a sixteen-year-old high school junior then.
Ulan was an almost-instant crowd favorite; it gained the band A-list status and was the first of many hits. Bamboo was on vocals, Perf De Castro on guitars, Mark Escueta on drums, Rico Blanco and Nathan Azarcon somewhere in there. Those guys were all under twenty years old when they became famous.
One interesting trivial tidbit that people must have forgotten is that the young Bamboo used to have long hair (Whenever I saw him on television, I would always remark that that look just didn't work for him; his hair was always was too flat and greasy-looking. And with that big mouth and those puffy eyes he was plain UGLY. He's a lot less upsetting now that he's bald).
At that time, Michael Elgar was a senior at ADMU High, already acknowledged by his peers as a guitar demigod and band-competition winner. (If I remember correctly, he had a band called Elgy's Blueberry Juice then ... and he had another called Black Roses in his elementary days. I never knew him personally, but ever since grade school, he was the kind of guy that girls knew about. And oh - he had braces back then). Not yet the rock star we know him to be today, he was then just one among the sea of fans of Bamboo et al.
Rivermaya remained one of the country's most popular bands through the '90s. Their singles were played massively to the point of easy recall. They weren't only on the radio and music videos; their songs were used as commercial jingles, movie soundtracks and cover band performances.
As much as I disliked their music, you gotta admit they made for good soundtrack. In a project for Electronic Media class back in college, my groupmates and I included Hinahanap-hanap Kita in a "romantic comedy" short we produced (And a bit more trivia: among my groupmates were Paolo of Moonstar '88 [then called Orphan Lily] and his missus Mara, Monsterbot's Karl and direk Avid. Our lead actor for that video was then-CFA-tambay now famous as Kamikazee's Jay).
At the turn of the century, Bamboo disappeared from the band and Rico Blanco took over as frontman (by then, Perf De Castro had already long dropped out and formed a flopped band called Triaxis; I vaguely remember it for cheesy, jologish, mid-'90s rock ballads in Filipino).
With Rico Blanco at the helm, the band seemed to have developed a more distinct personality and maybe a bit more sex appeal. Some people would have argued that Bamboo's departure made the band tank, but the way I see it, it just made them a bit less mainstream - which isn't exactly bad if you think about it. I.m.h.o., the Rico Blanco songs were more brilliant than the Bamboo ones. Bamboo may have been the more spirited performer, but Rico was the artist. Besides, it's more fun to watch a sexier, more attractive frontman. Bamboo just couldn't rock the shirtless look.
Meanwhile, Bamboo formed his own band named after himself, which I think was equally if not more successful.
I think Mike Elgar became the new lead guitarist around the time that Rico Blanco moved up front. Like i said, I never was a fan of the band and I don't follow them, so I didn't really notice. I just spotted him on television one day - Uy, si Mike Elgar yung bagong gitarista?! It was easy to recognize him because like I said, he still looks pretty much the same as he did in high school.
I remember catching the closing act for MTV Pilipinas on the telly (I don't quite remember what year; it was the one in which Pepe Smith was souped up as usual and was "improvising" onstage) - a few of the country's top rock icons came together for a smashing performance. Mike Elgar performed a guitar duet side-by-side with Francis Reyes of The Dawn. The Francis Reyes. I was just amused at seeing an 80's guitar titan with a "younger" star. Reyes was the inspiration and aspiration of guitarists of our generation from when we were kids; I'm quite sure Elgar used to dream about meeting him, and now happened to play on the same platform as him. Kinda reminds me of that Mark Wahlberg rockstar movie whatzitcalled - of how a former fan could play in the band he admired in his youth. Elgy is now an icon of sorts himself, prolly the new Francis Reyes of this generation.
Also amusing is how Rivermaya seemed to have done the reverse of what most bands from the '90s did. While most crossed over from the alternative scene and sold out into the mainstream, Rivermaya went from mainstream into a sort of alternative. Not entirely of course - they're clearly still holding up a certain sellable quality. And speaking of sellable, I also notice they're now more of a "pogi band" - stylish duds and tons of hair product, far from the unkempt look and slouchy clothes the original group donned in the mid-'90s.
I also couldn't help notice that the band called Rivermaya is an immensely different reincarnation of the band that was born sometime in the early nineties. Aside from the member overhaul, they kinda even have an all-new sound and overall personality.
I never was a fan of Rivermaya. I always found their songs ... er... too ... mainstream. The lyrics are clever (but not brilliant), their music kinda lacks edge and personality, like they were the kind of band that was afraid to experiment or go too extreme because it's all about producing something entirely "sellable". I don't know for sure of course; it's all just my opinion. "Rivermaya has always been a sellout kind of band," some stranger told me once in retrospect. And yeah, one could say they were good artists in a mainstream, pop-rock, sellout kind of way.
It was 1994 when Rivermaya's first single Ulan, was first (over)played. I was a sixteen-year-old high school junior then.
Ulan was an almost-instant crowd favorite; it gained the band A-list status and was the first of many hits. Bamboo was on vocals, Perf De Castro on guitars, Mark Escueta on drums, Rico Blanco and Nathan Azarcon somewhere in there. Those guys were all under twenty years old when they became famous.
One interesting trivial tidbit that people must have forgotten is that the young Bamboo used to have long hair (Whenever I saw him on television, I would always remark that that look just didn't work for him; his hair was always was too flat and greasy-looking. And with that big mouth and those puffy eyes he was plain UGLY. He's a lot less upsetting now that he's bald).At that time, Michael Elgar was a senior at ADMU High, already acknowledged by his peers as a guitar demigod and band-competition winner. (If I remember correctly, he had a band called Elgy's Blueberry Juice then ... and he had another called Black Roses in his elementary days. I never knew him personally, but ever since grade school, he was the kind of guy that girls knew about. And oh - he had braces back then). Not yet the rock star we know him to be today, he was then just one among the sea of fans of Bamboo et al.
Rivermaya remained one of the country's most popular bands through the '90s. Their singles were played massively to the point of easy recall. They weren't only on the radio and music videos; their songs were used as commercial jingles, movie soundtracks and cover band performances.
As much as I disliked their music, you gotta admit they made for good soundtrack. In a project for Electronic Media class back in college, my groupmates and I included Hinahanap-hanap Kita in a "romantic comedy" short we produced (And a bit more trivia: among my groupmates were Paolo of Moonstar '88 [then called Orphan Lily] and his missus Mara, Monsterbot's Karl and direk Avid. Our lead actor for that video was then-CFA-tambay now famous as Kamikazee's Jay).
At the turn of the century, Bamboo disappeared from the band and Rico Blanco took over as frontman (by then, Perf De Castro had already long dropped out and formed a flopped band called Triaxis; I vaguely remember it for cheesy, jologish, mid-'90s rock ballads in Filipino).
With Rico Blanco at the helm, the band seemed to have developed a more distinct personality and maybe a bit more sex appeal. Some people would have argued that Bamboo's departure made the band tank, but the way I see it, it just made them a bit less mainstream - which isn't exactly bad if you think about it. I.m.h.o., the Rico Blanco songs were more brilliant than the Bamboo ones. Bamboo may have been the more spirited performer, but Rico was the artist. Besides, it's more fun to watch a sexier, more attractive frontman. Bamboo just couldn't rock the shirtless look.
Meanwhile, Bamboo formed his own band named after himself, which I think was equally if not more successful.
I think Mike Elgar became the new lead guitarist around the time that Rico Blanco moved up front. Like i said, I never was a fan of the band and I don't follow them, so I didn't really notice. I just spotted him on television one day - Uy, si Mike Elgar yung bagong gitarista?! It was easy to recognize him because like I said, he still looks pretty much the same as he did in high school.
I remember catching the closing act for MTV Pilipinas on the telly (I don't quite remember what year; it was the one in which Pepe Smith was souped up as usual and was "improvising" onstage) - a few of the country's top rock icons came together for a smashing performance. Mike Elgar performed a guitar duet side-by-side with Francis Reyes of The Dawn. The Francis Reyes. I was just amused at seeing an 80's guitar titan with a "younger" star. Reyes was the inspiration and aspiration of guitarists of our generation from when we were kids; I'm quite sure Elgar used to dream about meeting him, and now happened to play on the same platform as him. Kinda reminds me of that Mark Wahlberg rockstar movie whatzitcalled - of how a former fan could play in the band he admired in his youth. Elgy is now an icon of sorts himself, prolly the new Francis Reyes of this generation.
Also amusing is how Rivermaya seemed to have done the reverse of what most bands from the '90s did. While most crossed over from the alternative scene and sold out into the mainstream, Rivermaya went from mainstream into a sort of alternative. Not entirely of course - they're clearly still holding up a certain sellable quality. And speaking of sellable, I also notice they're now more of a "pogi band" - stylish duds and tons of hair product, far from the unkempt look and slouchy clothes the original group donned in the mid-'90s.
back when parokya was young
Another entry in Taglish.
Kung tama ang pagkakaalala ko, March 1994 noon; patapos na ang schoolyear. Ang graduating batch ng Ateneo de Manila High School ay nagra-wrap up na ng kanilang apat na taon sa high school -- ilang linggo ng grad practice, clearance at iba't ibang non-academic activities na pampalubag-loob. Isang hapon, nagtipon-tipon ang mga studyante sa High School Covered Courts* para sa isang event. Sa kalagitnaan ng programa, may pumanik sa stage na banda: ilang mga magkakalase mula sa graduating batch.
*Oo, may S talaga yun.
Sinimulan nilang tugtugin ang Creep* ng Radiohead. Nakilala ng mga mag-aaral ang tugtog, at nag-cheer sila. Pero nang kumakanta na ang vocalist, iba yata ang lyrics - ha, tagalog? Kumanta siya tungkol sa craving niya para sa siopao na special. Ang kanta nilang ito ay hindi Creep, kundi Trip ang pamagat.
* Ang Creep ay isang kantang noise-rock na sikat na sikat na sikat na sikat to the point of rocker anthem noong mga araw na 'yon
Trip nga talaga - laugh trip. Ang galing ng wording, at saka ang kulit - in a really good way.
Nagpakilala nga pala ang banda: "Kami ang ... Parokya Ni Edgar!"
Hindi pa actually Parokya Ni Edgar ang pangalan nila at that time, kundi Comic Relief - kasi nga, pang-comic relief ang mga novelty rock songs nila. Ang phrase na "Parokya Ni Edgar" ay isang inside joke ng section nila. Isa itong impromptu smart-aleck answer ng classmate nila noong tinatalakay sa Filipino class ang El Filibusterismo ni Jose Rizal.
"Saan (blah blah blah) si Crisostomo Ibarra?," tanong ni Teacher.
Ang sagot ng nagulantang na estudyante, "Sa ... parokya ni Edgar!"* **
* Ang ibig sabihin ng parokya ay "parish" o "parish church". Kung sino si Edgar, hindi ko alam.
** Ang estudyanteng iyon ay ang kaklase nilang nagngangalang Bambi Cuna (info provided by Chito).
Obviously, benta. So nung ini-introduce nila ang mga sarili sa programang 'yon sa Ateneo High, bigla na lang nasabi ang phrase / inside joke na ang mga ka-section lang nila ang makaka-get. At mula noon, dumikit na ang bago nilang pangalan.
"Our next song is a song by a blonde nun,"* sabi nila . At saka tinugtog nila ang What's Up ng 4 Non-Blondes.
* Siyempre mga ingglisero pa, Atenista pa sila nun eh.
Tinugtog din nila ang Nanakaw Ang Wallet Ko, na version nila ng Knocking On Heaven's Door ng Guns n' Roses / Bob Dylan. Patok na patok sila sa mga ka-eskwela nila dahil sa kakwelahan.
Pagkagraduate, bumenta din sila sa ibang tao. Ang iba sa kanila nag-college sa Ateneo, ang iba nag-UP*, at tinuloy ng ilan ang pagba-banda. Eventually nawala sa Parokya ang dalawang original members nito from Ateneo high, pero nag-merge naman sila sa mga dating member ng bandang Looney Tunes. Na-form ang Parokya na kilala natin ngayon:
Chito Miranda on lead vocals
Darius Semana on lead guitar
Gab Chee Kee on rhythm
Buwi Meneses on bass
Dindin Moreno on drums
Vinci Montaner ... ano nga ba siya?
* UP: University of the Philippines. Naging kaklase ko si Chito sa College of Fine Arts. Si Vinci naging kaklase ko sa GE 'nung freshman (sa isang subject kung saan marami kaming binagsak ng walanhiyang prof); naalala ko lang sa kanya ay pogi siya noon at napapag-initan ng prof na mukhang manyak. Madalas kong nakikita ang Parokya boys sa CFA, lalo na kung may tugtog sila sa UP, which is madalas mangyari. Minsang naka-tambay ko sila sa tindahan ni Manang Babes.
Kahit wala pa silang album noon, sikat na sikat sila sa mga nagpapaka-rocker na suki ng Club Dredd* at Mayrics**. Alam ng mga fans ang mga kanta tulad ng Cooking ng Ina Mo, Chikinini (spoof ng Banal na Aso / Santong Kabayo ng Yano) at Pangarap Ko sa Buhay.
* Oo nga pala - nasa Km 19 Edsa pa ang Dredd noon. At ni wala pang Eastwood.
** Sazi's na ngayon ang Mayrics.
1995, sumikat ang kanta nilang Buloy - una sa NU 107 at humawa na sa ibang mga station - at noon sila nakilala sa radyo ng mga taong hindi alam kung ano ang Km 19. Ang Buloy ay tungkol sa totoong tao na na-kainuman nila sa Gulod*. Hindi yata nila alam ang totoong pangalan niya, basta ang tawag lang nila sa kaniya ay "Buloy". Hindi daw talaga siya nag-suicide nung una, pero pinatay nila siya dun sa kanta. Later on naging totohanan na ang suicide niya.
* Gulod : tambayan / inuman place sa loob ng UP Diliman Campus; nawala na ito nung 1999
Iilan lang sila na novelty rock acts* - marami kasi noon ang grunge / post-grunge, alternative at metal - kaya medyo naiiba sila sa karaniwang style noon. Pero ang pinakaka kakaiba sa Parokya ay ang husay nilang mag-entertain gamit ang kakulitan (at minsan, kabastusan). Ang maganda pa sa kanila, hindi sila nagpapa-cute tulad ng ibang mga banda na may pa image-image pa. Medyo jologs ang dating nila kung minsan, pero hindi baduy kasi intelihente yung humor nila, hindi slapstick. Nakakatawa kapag nagtanggal ng T-shirt si Chito - patpatin pa ang katawan niya noon, yun nga ang nakakatawa eh. Kung minsan may pekeng tattoo pa na naka-pentel pen lang (wala pa silang mga tunay na tatoo noon).
* Novelty Rock : Rock ang music, pero kakulitan ang lyrics. Ang iba pang novelty rock acts noon ay Grin Department, Tungaw at Ciudad. Pero angat talaga ang Paroyka. Wala pang Kamikazee noon.
Kaya nga nanalo sila sa NU Rock Awards ng Best Live Act noong 1996.
Sila din ang Best New Artist nung taong yon. Official na "recording artist" na sila dahil lumabas na ang unang album nila na Khangkhungkhernitz. Nandun siyempre sa album na 'yon ang mga kantang nabanggit, pwera ang Chikinini, dahil hindi pumayag ang Yano. *
* Medyo mayabang pa ang Yano noon kasi sikat pa sila na pinoy alternative band. Nung 2003, binigyan na rin ng permiso ang Parokya i-record ang Chikinini at isama sa album na Bigotilyo. Nalaos na kasi ang Yano, at sikat na sikat ang Parokya. Mas big-time pa ang Parokya kesa sa kung ano man ang inabot ng Yano.
Lagpas isang dekada nang sikat ang Parokya - nagkaroon na sila ng sampung album, at parang parami pa rin nang parami ang fans nila - at hindi pa sila naluluma. Maganda kasi sa kanila, bukod sa magaling sila tumugtog at magsulat ng lyrics, hindi sila natatali sa genre, at hindi sila takot mag-experiment. Kaya nga nagugustuhan sila ng maraming tao - whether bata o matanda, jologs or soyalin, simpleng tao o inggliserong Atenista level. Patunay dito ang lagpas 10 na panalo at lagpas 20 na nomination mula sa NU Rock Awards, MTV, Awit Awards, MYX at iba pa.
Kung tama ang pagkakaalala ko, March 1994 noon; patapos na ang schoolyear. Ang graduating batch ng Ateneo de Manila High School ay nagra-wrap up na ng kanilang apat na taon sa high school -- ilang linggo ng grad practice, clearance at iba't ibang non-academic activities na pampalubag-loob. Isang hapon, nagtipon-tipon ang mga studyante sa High School Covered Courts* para sa isang event. Sa kalagitnaan ng programa, may pumanik sa stage na banda: ilang mga magkakalase mula sa graduating batch.
*Oo, may S talaga yun.
Sinimulan nilang tugtugin ang Creep* ng Radiohead. Nakilala ng mga mag-aaral ang tugtog, at nag-cheer sila. Pero nang kumakanta na ang vocalist, iba yata ang lyrics - ha, tagalog? Kumanta siya tungkol sa craving niya para sa siopao na special. Ang kanta nilang ito ay hindi Creep, kundi Trip ang pamagat.
* Ang Creep ay isang kantang noise-rock na sikat na sikat na sikat na sikat to the point of rocker anthem noong mga araw na 'yon
Trip nga talaga - laugh trip. Ang galing ng wording, at saka ang kulit - in a really good way.
Nagpakilala nga pala ang banda: "Kami ang ... Parokya Ni Edgar!"
Hindi pa actually Parokya Ni Edgar ang pangalan nila at that time, kundi Comic Relief - kasi nga, pang-comic relief ang mga novelty rock songs nila. Ang phrase na "Parokya Ni Edgar" ay isang inside joke ng section nila. Isa itong impromptu smart-aleck answer ng classmate nila noong tinatalakay sa Filipino class ang El Filibusterismo ni Jose Rizal.
"Saan (blah blah blah) si Crisostomo Ibarra?," tanong ni Teacher.
Ang sagot ng nagulantang na estudyante, "Sa ... parokya ni Edgar!"* **
* Ang ibig sabihin ng parokya ay "parish" o "parish church". Kung sino si Edgar, hindi ko alam.
** Ang estudyanteng iyon ay ang kaklase nilang nagngangalang Bambi Cuna (info provided by Chito).
Obviously, benta. So nung ini-introduce nila ang mga sarili sa programang 'yon sa Ateneo High, bigla na lang nasabi ang phrase / inside joke na ang mga ka-section lang nila ang makaka-get. At mula noon, dumikit na ang bago nilang pangalan.
"Our next song is a song by a blonde nun,"* sabi nila . At saka tinugtog nila ang What's Up ng 4 Non-Blondes.
* Siyempre mga ingglisero pa, Atenista pa sila nun eh.
Tinugtog din nila ang Nanakaw Ang Wallet Ko, na version nila ng Knocking On Heaven's Door ng Guns n' Roses / Bob Dylan. Patok na patok sila sa mga ka-eskwela nila dahil sa kakwelahan.
Pagkagraduate, bumenta din sila sa ibang tao. Ang iba sa kanila nag-college sa Ateneo, ang iba nag-UP*, at tinuloy ng ilan ang pagba-banda. Eventually nawala sa Parokya ang dalawang original members nito from Ateneo high, pero nag-merge naman sila sa mga dating member ng bandang Looney Tunes. Na-form ang Parokya na kilala natin ngayon:
Chito Miranda on lead vocals
Darius Semana on lead guitar
Gab Chee Kee on rhythm
Buwi Meneses on bass
Dindin Moreno on drums
Vinci Montaner ... ano nga ba siya?
* UP: University of the Philippines. Naging kaklase ko si Chito sa College of Fine Arts. Si Vinci naging kaklase ko sa GE 'nung freshman (sa isang subject kung saan marami kaming binagsak ng walanhiyang prof); naalala ko lang sa kanya ay pogi siya noon at napapag-initan ng prof na mukhang manyak. Madalas kong nakikita ang Parokya boys sa CFA, lalo na kung may tugtog sila sa UP, which is madalas mangyari. Minsang naka-tambay ko sila sa tindahan ni Manang Babes.
Kahit wala pa silang album noon, sikat na sikat sila sa mga nagpapaka-rocker na suki ng Club Dredd* at Mayrics**. Alam ng mga fans ang mga kanta tulad ng Cooking ng Ina Mo, Chikinini (spoof ng Banal na Aso / Santong Kabayo ng Yano) at Pangarap Ko sa Buhay.
* Oo nga pala - nasa Km 19 Edsa pa ang Dredd noon. At ni wala pang Eastwood.
** Sazi's na ngayon ang Mayrics.
1995, sumikat ang kanta nilang Buloy - una sa NU 107 at humawa na sa ibang mga station - at noon sila nakilala sa radyo ng mga taong hindi alam kung ano ang Km 19. Ang Buloy ay tungkol sa totoong tao na na-kainuman nila sa Gulod*. Hindi yata nila alam ang totoong pangalan niya, basta ang tawag lang nila sa kaniya ay "Buloy". Hindi daw talaga siya nag-suicide nung una, pero pinatay nila siya dun sa kanta. Later on naging totohanan na ang suicide niya.* Gulod : tambayan / inuman place sa loob ng UP Diliman Campus; nawala na ito nung 1999
Iilan lang sila na novelty rock acts* - marami kasi noon ang grunge / post-grunge, alternative at metal - kaya medyo naiiba sila sa karaniwang style noon. Pero ang pinakaka kakaiba sa Parokya ay ang husay nilang mag-entertain gamit ang kakulitan (at minsan, kabastusan). Ang maganda pa sa kanila, hindi sila nagpapa-cute tulad ng ibang mga banda na may pa image-image pa. Medyo jologs ang dating nila kung minsan, pero hindi baduy kasi intelihente yung humor nila, hindi slapstick. Nakakatawa kapag nagtanggal ng T-shirt si Chito - patpatin pa ang katawan niya noon, yun nga ang nakakatawa eh. Kung minsan may pekeng tattoo pa na naka-pentel pen lang (wala pa silang mga tunay na tatoo noon).
* Novelty Rock : Rock ang music, pero kakulitan ang lyrics. Ang iba pang novelty rock acts noon ay Grin Department, Tungaw at Ciudad. Pero angat talaga ang Paroyka. Wala pang Kamikazee noon.
Kaya nga nanalo sila sa NU Rock Awards ng Best Live Act noong 1996.
Sila din ang Best New Artist nung taong yon. Official na "recording artist" na sila dahil lumabas na ang unang album nila na Khangkhungkhernitz. Nandun siyempre sa album na 'yon ang mga kantang nabanggit, pwera ang Chikinini, dahil hindi pumayag ang Yano. *
* Medyo mayabang pa ang Yano noon kasi sikat pa sila na pinoy alternative band. Nung 2003, binigyan na rin ng permiso ang Parokya i-record ang Chikinini at isama sa album na Bigotilyo. Nalaos na kasi ang Yano, at sikat na sikat ang Parokya. Mas big-time pa ang Parokya kesa sa kung ano man ang inabot ng Yano.
Lagpas isang dekada nang sikat ang Parokya - nagkaroon na sila ng sampung album, at parang parami pa rin nang parami ang fans nila - at hindi pa sila naluluma. Maganda kasi sa kanila, bukod sa magaling sila tumugtog at magsulat ng lyrics, hindi sila natatali sa genre, at hindi sila takot mag-experiment. Kaya nga nagugustuhan sila ng maraming tao - whether bata o matanda, jologs or soyalin, simpleng tao o inggliserong Atenista level. Patunay dito ang lagpas 10 na panalo at lagpas 20 na nomination mula sa NU Rock Awards, MTV, Awit Awards, MYX at iba pa.
back when annabelle rama was a sexy star
(It isn't exactly Gen-X, but it's nostalgic nonetheless)
Annabelle Rama as we know her today.
Image from igma.tv
I sort of remember someone telling me (it must have been my Dad or one of my in-laws) that Annabelle Rama used to be a starlet of sorts before she got hitched to Eddie Gutierrez and had kids with him. I got curious about that and did a quick Google search. And guess what I found! --
But before that, this: According to imdb, she did three movies in the early seventies; back then she was known only as "Annabelle". Ooh, one of those girls with no surname. With titles like Hidhid, Hayok and Uhaw, they seem like grindhouse-type soft-porn B-movies that proliferated in the '70s.
Anyway, this is what I found on the first page of the Google search (sans the blurring, FYI):
Anabelle in the early '70s.
She apparently was a sexy star back then. And obviously, she didn't just do sexy; she did nekkid.
I started wondering how it must feel like for her adult sons to know that their mom was a porn star. Or to know that nude pictures of their mom have been circulating on the 'net.
In fairness, Annabelle was actually pretty when she was young. You could even see hints of her daughter, model / actress / beauty-queen Ruffa, in her face.
I just can't imagine how she managed to act sexy - even if I look at the above softandsexy photo, Her thick waray accent and argumentative demeanor keep popping in my head. I mean, who would want to watch that? I wonder how she pulled it off (no pun intended).
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Annabelle Rama as we know her today.
Image from igma.tv
I sort of remember someone telling me (it must have been my Dad or one of my in-laws) that Annabelle Rama used to be a starlet of sorts before she got hitched to Eddie Gutierrez and had kids with him. I got curious about that and did a quick Google search. And guess what I found! --
But before that, this: According to imdb, she did three movies in the early seventies; back then she was known only as "Annabelle". Ooh, one of those girls with no surname. With titles like Hidhid, Hayok and Uhaw, they seem like grindhouse-type soft-porn B-movies that proliferated in the '70s.
Anyway, this is what I found on the first page of the Google search (sans the blurring, FYI):
Anabelle in the early '70s.
She apparently was a sexy star back then. And obviously, she didn't just do sexy; she did nekkid.
I started wondering how it must feel like for her adult sons to know that their mom was a porn star. Or to know that nude pictures of their mom have been circulating on the 'net.
In fairness, Annabelle was actually pretty when she was young. You could even see hints of her daughter, model / actress / beauty-queen Ruffa, in her face.
I just can't imagine how she managed to act sexy - even if I look at the above softandsexy photo, Her thick waray accent and argumentative demeanor keep popping in my head. I mean, who would want to watch that? I wonder how she pulled it off (no pun intended).
.
back when c.o.d. had a christmas display
Nanonood ako ng news, tulad ng gawi ko bawat gabi, nang may napanood akong maiksing feature tungkol sa C.O.D Christmas display sa Greenhills. Nagpakita ang report ng mga shot ng mga umaandar na manyika, mga automated na train, sumasayaw na ilaw - iba't ibang elemento ng mga moving display.
Nasisip ko lang - tulad yata iyon ng mga pinapalabas sa C.O.D store noon. Kaya ba tinawag na "C.O.D" ang display ay dahil isa itong homage sa dating C.O.D store?
Nalaman ko ngayon lang na ang ibig sabihin pala ng C.O.D ay Christmas on Display, hehe.
Naisip ko rin - never yata akong nakanood ng Christmas show sa C.O.D 'nung bata ako. Although madalas kong nakikita ang mga naka-display na Christmas dolls sa harapan ng C.O.D building kapag dumadaan ang sasakyan namin sa Cubao, parang wala akong maalala na napanood ko ang presentation ng mga gumagalaw na manikin kada 7 ng gabi tuwing Disyembre.
Ang sigurado ko lang na naaalala ko ay ang sinabi ng mga kamag-anak, teacher at mga kaklase ko na nakakatuwa at napakaganda ng mga presentation taon-taon: may mga manyika at manikin na metukuloso ang pagkakayari, gumagalaw sila, sumasayaw at naghahayag ng isang kwentong pang-Pasko. May music at ilaw pa. Ang lahat ay naaliw, bata man o matanda, kaya it's worth the travel and the siksikan.
Simple lang ang trip ng mga tao noon. Sikat na sikat 'yon nung '80s. Medyo yata humina 'nung '90s - pero siguro dahil tumatanda na ako 'nun at wala na akong paki sa mga bagay na parang pambata. Ang tining ko pa nga noon, baduy at laos na ang mga presentation na ganun. Nung 2004, tuluyan na silang nagsara.
Ngayon, alaala na lang talaga ang C.O.D -- at wala pa akong maalala. Hindi ko alam kung bakit nagsara sila. Pero sigurado akong maraming matanda at mga dating-bata nasayangan sa pagsara nila dahil wala na ang mga Christmas show na naging tradisyon na sa Metro Manila. 'Yung mga matatanda at mga dating-bata na nagkaroon ng mga magagandang memory ng Pasko dahil sa sayang dinala ng mga C.O.D. display taon-taon.
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Nasisip ko lang - tulad yata iyon ng mga pinapalabas sa C.O.D store noon. Kaya ba tinawag na "C.O.D" ang display ay dahil isa itong homage sa dating C.O.D store?
Nalaman ko ngayon lang na ang ibig sabihin pala ng C.O.D ay Christmas on Display, hehe.
Naisip ko rin - never yata akong nakanood ng Christmas show sa C.O.D 'nung bata ako. Although madalas kong nakikita ang mga naka-display na Christmas dolls sa harapan ng C.O.D building kapag dumadaan ang sasakyan namin sa Cubao, parang wala akong maalala na napanood ko ang presentation ng mga gumagalaw na manikin kada 7 ng gabi tuwing Disyembre.
Ang sigurado ko lang na naaalala ko ay ang sinabi ng mga kamag-anak, teacher at mga kaklase ko na nakakatuwa at napakaganda ng mga presentation taon-taon: may mga manyika at manikin na metukuloso ang pagkakayari, gumagalaw sila, sumasayaw at naghahayag ng isang kwentong pang-Pasko. May music at ilaw pa. Ang lahat ay naaliw, bata man o matanda, kaya it's worth the travel and the siksikan.
Simple lang ang trip ng mga tao noon. Sikat na sikat 'yon nung '80s. Medyo yata humina 'nung '90s - pero siguro dahil tumatanda na ako 'nun at wala na akong paki sa mga bagay na parang pambata. Ang tining ko pa nga noon, baduy at laos na ang mga presentation na ganun. Nung 2004, tuluyan na silang nagsara.
Ngayon, alaala na lang talaga ang C.O.D -- at wala pa akong maalala. Hindi ko alam kung bakit nagsara sila. Pero sigurado akong maraming matanda at mga dating-bata nasayangan sa pagsara nila dahil wala na ang mga Christmas show na naging tradisyon na sa Metro Manila. 'Yung mga matatanda at mga dating-bata na nagkaroon ng mga magagandang memory ng Pasko dahil sa sayang dinala ng mga C.O.D. display taon-taon.
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back when there were those december amusement fairs
Like those magical lands at the top of Enid Blyton's Magic Faraway Tree that visit for a time and then disappear, these wonderlands of sorts came by for a few weeks every holiday season: Payanig sa Pasig, Big Bang sa Alabang. Even Star City used to be just a Christmastime fair then. I used to go go together with my friends or cousins, thinking it was such a big thing to be allowed to stay until after midnight. Since the weather got chilly as soon as the ber months rolled in (and I mean really cool by Manila standards, the whole day, not just nippy in the mornings and evenings), our parents would tell us to bring jackets for practicality, and we brought them for pormality. It gave us a chance to show off our cardigans - the looser, the slouchier, the better. We would crumple the sleeves upward to expose our forearms or tie them around our waists- that's how jackets were worn back then.
Those fairs were utter amusement for a child - rides, games, lights, food, shops, fireworks, the occasional celebrity sightings, those geeky production number featuring people in silly tinfoil-laced costumes. Parents who tagged along to babysit from a distance amused themselves with the tiangge while we kiddies hopped from ride to ride.
My favorite rides were the roller coaster and the octopus. In those days, we haven't yet heard of rides conking out mid-transit, or kids losing their limbs or dying from faulty machinery. Lawsuits against carnival operators were unheard of.
I also liked checking out whatever horror train or horror house there was. That was probably one of the first things I'd ask to go to because I liked how the UV lights made white things glow.
The non-ride feature I enjoyed the most has got to be the giant maze - it was absolutely safe, risk-free, mentally challenging and physically fun, especially if we raced with each other. Plus points for getting to punch the guy in the ape costume.
The giant slide was the main attraction of Big Bang, which I think was imitated by the others. It remained popular in spite of the high ticket price and the rumors going around that some kid's neck snapped on descent. I tried it out a few times and would have gone a few more if it wasn't so pricey.
During the down-time, we'd stroll around the shops and see if there were any interesting trinkets worth buying - glow-in-the-dark shoelaces, plastic digital watches, those cylindrical glass pendants with tiny plastic flowers and colored water in them, those heart-shaped balloons with teddy bears inside. When we got hungry, we'd stop by a Burger Machine. I personally preferred Smokey's because it had those wrap-around dogs.
At the end of the night, we'd have a hard time locating the car that we came in because it'd be covered with dust - well, that's what you got when the parking space happened to be an unpaved lot with several hundred cars that went to and fro. We'd noisily chatter about how this guy fell on his butt as the giant ape chased him, how mirrors must have been used for that shifting ghost effect in the horror house, how surprised we were that Richard Gomez and Joey Marquez were so tall pala, how cute that stranger at the ticket line was.
The lot where Payanig used to be held every year is now an MC Home Depot. Where Big Bang used to visit now stands the elaborate Town Center complex. Star City has become a year-round feature of Pasay City and has since faced lawsuit after lawsuit for from disgruntled customers for faulty machinery, including one that allegedly resulted in the death of a child.
I didn't even notice when these December amusement fairs stopped coming by, and I didn't even notice what we did in place of going to those places during the holidays. I didn't even notice that ATC was in the Big Bang lot (until someone pointed it out to me just recently). It must have been the time when Enchanted Kingdom opened in Sta. Rosa and distracted the amusement-fair patrons. Ah, well.
Those fairs were utter amusement for a child - rides, games, lights, food, shops, fireworks, the occasional celebrity sightings, those geeky production number featuring people in silly tinfoil-laced costumes. Parents who tagged along to babysit from a distance amused themselves with the tiangge while we kiddies hopped from ride to ride.
My favorite rides were the roller coaster and the octopus. In those days, we haven't yet heard of rides conking out mid-transit, or kids losing their limbs or dying from faulty machinery. Lawsuits against carnival operators were unheard of.
I also liked checking out whatever horror train or horror house there was. That was probably one of the first things I'd ask to go to because I liked how the UV lights made white things glow.
The non-ride feature I enjoyed the most has got to be the giant maze - it was absolutely safe, risk-free, mentally challenging and physically fun, especially if we raced with each other. Plus points for getting to punch the guy in the ape costume.
The giant slide was the main attraction of Big Bang, which I think was imitated by the others. It remained popular in spite of the high ticket price and the rumors going around that some kid's neck snapped on descent. I tried it out a few times and would have gone a few more if it wasn't so pricey.
During the down-time, we'd stroll around the shops and see if there were any interesting trinkets worth buying - glow-in-the-dark shoelaces, plastic digital watches, those cylindrical glass pendants with tiny plastic flowers and colored water in them, those heart-shaped balloons with teddy bears inside. When we got hungry, we'd stop by a Burger Machine. I personally preferred Smokey's because it had those wrap-around dogs.
At the end of the night, we'd have a hard time locating the car that we came in because it'd be covered with dust - well, that's what you got when the parking space happened to be an unpaved lot with several hundred cars that went to and fro. We'd noisily chatter about how this guy fell on his butt as the giant ape chased him, how mirrors must have been used for that shifting ghost effect in the horror house, how surprised we were that Richard Gomez and Joey Marquez were so tall pala, how cute that stranger at the ticket line was.
The lot where Payanig used to be held every year is now an MC Home Depot. Where Big Bang used to visit now stands the elaborate Town Center complex. Star City has become a year-round feature of Pasay City and has since faced lawsuit after lawsuit for from disgruntled customers for faulty machinery, including one that allegedly resulted in the death of a child.
I didn't even notice when these December amusement fairs stopped coming by, and I didn't even notice what we did in place of going to those places during the holidays. I didn't even notice that ATC was in the Big Bang lot (until someone pointed it out to me just recently). It must have been the time when Enchanted Kingdom opened in Sta. Rosa and distracted the amusement-fair patrons. Ah, well.
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