D-7 Siganid St.

Moving day

The House, Summer 1986

It was an awesome sight. After a few years living in a dark (subterranean as my uncle put it) residence in town, this large and bright looking house surrounded by vast rice fields, right next to a a kindergarten school I just graduated from, and vegetation looks just about right for me. I remembered the crates and cartons being unloaded and the smell of the new residence. The white tiles on the floor, faucets in every corner, electric sockets in every corner, and best of all, two bathrooms with a toilet bowl equipped with a flushing mechanism, and a shower. The smell of Albatross long disintegrated still lingering in the dry and empty bathrooms. And a bathroom mirror as well. From where we used to live, igib, tabo't timba was a way of life.

The bedrooms were equally impressive. To a boy used to a single bedroom with walls made out of plywood so thin you can practically use it as a substitute for paper when you ran out of materials to draw with, a real bedroom was overwhelming. Even the maid's quarters look pristine comapred to the one we've had before. There was a Jesus Christ poster left hanging in one of the cabinets. And a faint smell of rugby, and a little dust. And those circular flourescent lights I only get to see at the medical unit---I always associate them with Dr Garay---and all the lights in the house were exactly like those. Fascinating.

I went outside to check out the terrain. Lots of grass and plants. Perfect for my grasshopper catch and torture hobby. Ant-lions under the bedroom windows as well. I went to check the nearby chico tree for the large variety of ants called 'pala' in the local dialect. Check. I caught one and fed an ant lion larva with the biggest crater. Then I noticed the dogs on the other side of the bamboo fence. A lot of them. In varying breeds as well. One mean-looking mongrel with about the same height as I did eyed me the way a lion probably eyes a gazelle. Good thing I hated dogs. I had to stay out of that one's radius if I want to survive the rest of my stay in this new neighborhood.

I went to the street in front of the house. It was not paved like the ones we have passed going here. I didn't care. I went to the direction of the huge water tank in the west, still mindful of the dogs. A small cute looking white-furred member of the pack managed to squeeze through one of the openings and accompanied me in my walk. for some reason I liked this one more than I ever loved dogs and welcomed the company. I passed by a house in my right, just behind the kindergarten building. It was empty, but there was a native monkey tied by its neck above a tamarind tree. It was screeching at me. Probably remembered me when I threw rocks at it with my classmates in Kinder 1&2. Had it been able to speak I'm sure it would make a Marine Master Gunnery Sergeant proud with the kind of pep talk it would probably give me. The house on the left was inhabited. I saw a mocha-colored VW Beetle parked in a more sophisticated looking garage. 

I reached the end of the road and stood there gaping at the wide open space I did not experience when I lived in the center of the small town. Me, Kit and Jute would have a blast with those Ninja and Tarzan moves we discussed before.

The dog wandered somewhere and I realized i still needed to unpack my comic book collection. Going back, I deduced my father had already unpacked some of his own things as well. 

I can already hear Ricky Nelson's "Poor Little Fool" this far from the house.

Palo

I've been browsing through some Eraserheads tracks in Youtube and I just realized something.

"Para Sa Masa" off Sticker Happy (1997) might not be that harmless after all. Not because it has an insidious, subliminal message telling you to recite "Natas" eighteen times or shoot up large quantities of narcotics hidden in the seeming tribute to the masses that paranoid fundamentalists wold have no difficulty in spotting (if some of them can declare Return Of The Jedi as anti-Christian, it would be a breeze doing that to a record with a naked woman in the cover). Nothing as controversial as those.

It is not harmless because in my opinion, that song is a pointed critique to the group of people it appears to glorify. In most parts the song is more hurt than actually reprimanding, as what these lines, as I understand them, say:

"naaalala nyo pa ba/binigyan namin kayo ng ligaya..."

And then veers toward this direction:

"ilang taon na rin ang lumipas/mga kulay ng mundo ay kumupas/marami na rin ang mga pagbabago/di maiiwasan pagkat tayo ay tao lamang..."

And this caps it all:

"mapapatawad mo ba ako/kung hindi ko sinunod ang gusto mo..."

That last line may have been brought on by the lukewarm reception the band got for songs that were way out of their usual fare. In other words, "fans" did not like it when their favorite band went over its head and decide to do experiments with their sound. As I recall the album's predecessor (Fruitcake) sold well, but did not sell great as their previous releases. It was totally different from the rest--all English songs, even had a book with it--and none of the daily college/juvenile shenanigans the band's most popular songs became well known for.

And finally:

"pinilit kong iahon ka/ngunit ayaw mo namang sumama..."

And:

"huwag mo hayaang ganito/bigyan ang sarili ng respeto..."

I am no Lit major but those lines might as well say they'd given up trying to elevate the average person's taste by giving them something different. Of course that smacks of arrogance and downright condescension on the band's part and I may also be mistaken since that's how I interpret it, but even if that was indeed their sentiments, then so be it. As long as that was how they felt during that time, then fine. Phoniness is worse. The band went on to record two more excellent albums (Natin99--is their best in my opinion) that were sadly overlooked by most of their fans until their eventual dissolution in the early part of the century.

But everyone got one hell of a spanking with that song.

Album Art

In a previous entry (Happy Anti-Valentine's Day) I waxed poetic on the pleasures of acquiring and listening to music the old-fashioned way. Of course in today's digital landscape, actually owning a physical piece of musical recording - be it via cds, cassette or vinyl - would warrant a dazed and quizzical look from today's brain-dead generation (and people of my age bracket or older trying hard to be in today's loop). At best you'd get an honest query as to why you'd go through such pains of scouring the metropolis and back while shelving out horrendous amounts of money for something you can get--sorry, download-- for free. You might as well ask collectors why they'd pay astronomical amounts that's enough to alleviate our international debt for a piece of painting when they can just buy a reproduction that costs less than the frame it will be mounted on. And this stance has nothing to do with piracy either. I support piracy. But when it comes to music, I prefer to have the real thing complete with the liner notes and personnel involved in the album's creation. More importantly, because it preserves the artwork that goes with the music: From the way the inlay sleeves were folded, to the entire layout (specially when lyrics are reprinted) as well as the band/musician information. Some torrent downloads come with a jpeg file of the album covers and inlay sleeves but nothing beats the real thing.

And there's just something about buying something and not knowing what to expect out of it, and the anticipation of going home, strapping your headphones and listening to it while marveling at the creativity (or not) of the music, package and the cover. When the music and album artwork jived, I could listen to the entire thing for weeks. Especially if it was a favorite artist who did something totally new, and surprisingly good output.

Rolling Stone magazine published its own list of 100 GREATEST ALBUM COVERS OF ALL TIME a few years ago. I'm going to do a list of my own that is strictly confined to my own collection mostly composed of cassette tapes I started buying when I was in high school and a smattering of cds (that are mostly upgraded versions of my albums on tape that warped).

In no particular order:
ERASERHEADS/CIRCUS - The 'Heads exemplified everything that has to do with living out your college life in perpetual cool. The wit, humor and intelligence of the compositions went well with the grit and simplicity of the cover and layout. Listening to the record and reading the booklet somehow made you feel you were in a dormitory drinking your guts out while singing to a medley done by your guitar-toting buddy.

LIVE/THROWING COPPER - To be honest, my primary reason for buying Live's sophomore hit was because of the cover art. I heard 'Selling the drama' before, and it was a decent tune. But the painting by Peter Howson called 'Sisters Of Mercy' had a mysterious and slightly frightening aura about it that went so well with the spiritualistic leanings of the band's music. I even had the cassette case left around the stereo as it looks ominous and cool along with my father's jazz collection.

MEGADETH/RUST IN PEACE - Ed Repka was a mainstay in the Megadeth fold (even outlasting some band members), doing cover arts for earlier albums but 1990's Rust In Peace was the most arresting. Not only is the album a lean, towering piece of thrash perfection, but the cover art depicting alien conspiracies and people that look suspiciously like Gorbachev and George Bush watching beloved mascot Vic Rattlehead do a demonstration on alien life form deserves a comic book series of its own. Stare at the cover during 'Hangar 18'.

SMASHING PUMPKINS/SIAMESE DREAM - The orange toned photograph of the twin sisters, coupled with Billy Corgan's lyrical images about nostalgia really hits home. This is the reason why I always look back at the 90s as perpetual summers lighted in the late golden afternoon sun.

GUNS N' ROSES/USE YOUR ILLUSION I&II - One of the most ambitious projects in hard rock history. Impeccable layouts and generous inclusion of lyrics and band photos and personnel as well.

NINE INCH NAILS/PRETTY HATE MACHINE - Simple and elegant inlay card. Also features the debut of the NIN symbol designed by Trent Reznor and Gary Talpas. An additional treat would be the inclusion of "ideas and sounds" Reznor utilized while recording his landmark debut.

THE POLICE/GHOST IN THE MACHINE - Up to this album the band mostly utilized their own photos in their album covers alternating who gets to be in the middle (they're a power trio after all) per album. For this release, we get a simple black background and three digital Chinese (or Japanese) characters with the band's faces signifying their approach to their new synth-heavy compositions.

GARBAGE - Not only is the cover striking, but I was actually hellbent on buying the album because I read Butch Vig--who produced Nirvana's Nevermind and Smashing Pumpkins' Siamese Dream--will be drumming for the band. I couldn't care less had the album art were done by people with the aesthetic sensibilities of pirated DVD peddlers here in the Philippines. That the cover was beautiful was a pleasant surprise and only added to my appreciation of the band and its music.

SOUL ASYLUM/GRAVE DANCERS UNION - While Soul Asylum had already been relegated to relative obscurity after their 90s heyday, their 1992 album was by far one of the best albums with an equally memorable cover as well.

BLIND MELON - The Bee Girl does it for me. One of the coolest album covers there is.

Prosti The Snowman

a lot of the presidential campaign materials, specially the ones shown on tv ought to be given a special awards ceremony for the tackiest, most insulting-to-the-intelligence, amoral, and downright ugly pieces of excreta ever to assail a person's senses. this is a new highpoint (or low) in the history of philippine politics. a long time ago you'd get jingles and tv plugs that were reasonably done with a modicum of restraint (and even good taste) and the consideration that maybe people aren't that stupid to buy whatever bullshit they decide to cram over the collective consciousness of the masses.

now you have statesmen (clowns, actually.) doing rap songs more embarrassing than than the public humiliations done to them by their little sisters, filthy rich real estate moguls trying hard to hammer everyone how destitute they are, and senators with their own version of a schoolyard brawl capped with seemingly harmless ‘insertions’. it would have been better had it ended in an actual fistfight but I guess they’d probably say they had “class”. Classy people stooping lower than humanly possible to eke out the last of whatever dignity they have just to get that elusive vote. At least whores have the decency to do what they do in private. You get the usual “iaahon ko kayo sa kahirapan” and “susugpuin ko ang korupsyon”. but then you wonder why the hell nobody asks them HOW. In less than four months non-taxpayers and unemployed members of society will again define how i’m going to be taxed.

At least this proves that advertising really changes things for you. No matter how banal, controversy-ridden, and totally devoid of any platform to run your position is, advertising neutralizes everything and makes you look good in front of most people. Just bombard the net, airwaves and broadsheets with your image and people will succumb to the sick pavlovian conditioning you did from endless exposures to your image. Never mind that you’re the asshole who’s gonna take control of their lives for the next 6 years. Nevermind that you’re definitely going to recoup all those billions spent on endless rotations on that sea of garbage jingle spinning in everyone’s head like an irritating mosquito that keepes buzzing in your ear that you just can’t kill.

this reminds me of jive guys who proudly proclaim pink as their favorite color. not because they're gay, or perhaps they really do like it despite society's nearsighted perception on gender preferences, but because it's one way of telling the world "hey! i'm a macho guy comfortable with my own sexuality. look at me. aren't i cool for liking something normal men hate? by the way check out my abs." so what it all boils down to is your simple garden-variety attempt at cuteness and attention-grabbing ploys designed for people with an iq of a carrot. and believe you me, it really works.

I overheard this from someone a few days ago: “kaya naman pala magtapon ng maraming pera sa campaign, ba't di ginawa nung senador pa lang at gamitin yun pera para tumulong talaga? ikanga e, kung gusto mo talaga tumulong, tutulong ka."

if you want to shoot, shoot. if you want to plunder, make godawful campaign materials.

Anything

Just to write/share something...


Real Genius - I have been watching this movie repeatedly these days because of my son's fondness for the Comsat Angels's "I'm Falling" during one of the sequences of the movie that used the entire duration of the song. He practically uses it as a lullaby at bedtime. Fine by me. At least it's not "Nobody" by the Wonder Girls.

Green Tea - Probably the only reason why my weight has not approached pachyderm proportions despite my disregard for diet and exercise.


Movie Scores - Today's contemporary music scene makes one wish for a Groundhog Day scenario set during the early 90s. In the absence of good pop/rock music, movie scores are the way to go.


Chuck Taylors - RIP. The coolness element will be sorely missed.


Elow Poh! - Makes you wonder if the speaker is extremely courteous or just someone with an uncontrollable compulsion to commit atrocities with their lame attempts at cuteness. Imagine a grown "man" with lips the size of Mt. Kanlaon doing this to a person young enough to be his son. Exactly.


Young People Who Think Avatar Is James Cameron's Opus - There are a lot of pirated copies of ALIENS and The Terminator Series and The Abyss. In the words of Henri Ducard, "Always mind your surroundings." Or if that's too much, Google is here for a reason.


Pan De Manila - Because the Ortigas land area is already saturated with 7-11 and Mini-Stop shops per square inch. Thank you for opening a branch near the office.


Reading - A lot of good books left unread because of this inanity. Okay I'm off.

Fag--er, Fangs

A part of my religious upbringing as a Catholic probably stemmed from my childhood fears of everything that has to do with the devil and any known creature of the night who did his bidding. I believe I was in the pre-school stage when I first heard the term 'Vampire' from my father. The way he described the creature---a supernatural being with superhuman abilities that has a nasty predilection for human blood; with oversized canines for puncturing the victim's jugular and an aberration to Roman Catholic trinkets, sunlight, and garlic. That, and they slept in coffins as well. He mentioned someone called Count Dracula and showed me a magazine with a black and white photo of a tall, gaunt-looking man in a flowing black cape (Christopher Lee, actually) glaring at the camera. The information, the way Dracula looked and what happens to you if a vampire kills you was terrifying, specially when you're a child. There was even a time when I thought everyone in Transylvania were bloodsuckers.

And that's the way vampires should be. Something that sparks some deep-seated terror from people. Not sexy or romantic like the recent films of yesteryears and today's brain-dead pop culture are advocating. (Digression:I have a suspicion that it's another Catholic construct meant to inspire devotion among its congregation. How come it's never mentioned they're afraid of the Star of David, or the Koran, or Jerry Falwell? Interesting.).

This new politically-correct/scientific approach at portraying the entire vampire genre and repackaging it as other than a horror fare is abysmally lame. Anne Rice started it with injecting homoerotic undertones and short of (in my opinion) actually declaring vamprisim as a metaphor for homosexuality; and then you get films like Blade and Underworld that repackaged them as superheroes and mutants. And Buffy The Vampire Slayer. And here comes Stephanie Meyer's Twilight series that turned two titans of horror (Vampire, Werewolf) into characters straight from Sweet Valley High, One Tree Hill and Dawson's Creek. Although yes, everyone has a right to take any material and reinvent it to whatever packaging the author chooses it to be, but something tells me the entire genre has gone downhill since 100-year old vampires who look 17 became the embodiment of a romantic Don Juan who sweeps every pre-pubescent/teenage girls off their feet. I wonder why those so-called guardians of morality kept mum at the very obvious glorification of pedophilia in these series and cried foul when Vladimir Nabokov's Lolita was published or shown (see Stanley Kubrick).

With that said, here are a few Vampire films/reading materials I found to be very entertaining and satisfying:

1. Dracula (Bram Stoker) - still the best book about vampires. period.

2. Salem's Lot (Stephen King) - masterful storytelling. horrifying with occasional bursts of humor. one of king's best. scout for the made for tv movie as well. equally terrifying.

3. Near Dark (f) dir. Kathryn Bigelow - shows a nomadic group of vampires. instead of tall clean looking aristocrats, these were gruesome hobos who bathed in their victim's blood.

Near Dark

4. Fright Night (f) dir. Tom Holland - another favorite. features the late great roddy mcdowall as a phoney vampire killer and chris sarandon as the elegant but humorous vampire neighbor of teenager william ragsdale.

5. I Am Legend (Richard Matheson) - not to be confused with the crap Will Smith adaptation of an outbreak turning humans into mutants with vampiric attributes. stick to the book. million times better.

6. The Horror Of Dracula (f) dir. Terence Fisher - christopher lee's first foray into the role that made him famous. a loose adaptation of stoker's famous novel about the transylvanian count still contains genuine moments of creepiness even by today's standards.

7. Nosferatu (f) dir. FW Murnau - the lack of sound and max schreck's unique portrayal of count orlock added to the general creepiness that pervades the entire film.

8. Dracula (f) dir. Tod Browning - another dracula icon in the person of actor bela lugosi. he, along with lee practically hogged the general appearance of the infamous count.

9. Vampires (f) dir. John Carpenter - decent action/horror film from john carpenter. james woods looks more dangerous than the lead vampire though.

RIP NIN : Enter Trent Reznor

A few minutes that felt like hours after Pupil finished their set I had this sudden panic attack that perhaps Trent Reznor and Co. had bailed out of the entire proceedings without so much as a "fuck off" to their fans who waited for NIN to come to the Philippines with probably more enthusiasm than the second coming of the almighty himself. The thing about rock stars (Reznor wouild cringe at this description) is that their unpredictability is also what makes their music so compelling in the first place. I'm a big fan but i doubt if I'll be able to forgive him had he pulled that kind of stunt. I mean 1k isn't something I can pick anytime from a tree after all. Even the hairy bearded guy who sat in front of us (me, my wife, and my sister-in law) who gave the impressioin of a calm composed individual shattered all preconceived notions when he yelled "TAMA NA YANG ILAW!!! GO NAAAA!!!!" So much for first impressions. I just reminded myself how big a perfectionist Reznor is. From the countless interviews I've read about the guy, they never fail to highlight the man's obsession about meticulousness. That Reznor never fails to accomplish something once he puts his mind into it. One interview with a former employer when was still a handyman for a recording studio put it more simply: "When that guy waxed the floor, it looked great." So I just waited for the strobe lights to be tweaked a little more. Better safe than sorry.

Then the lights dimmed and the crowd gave a collective howl of anticipation; and just as the strobe lights behind the stage blared at full blast along with the first bars of "Somewhat Damaged", the dark lord of industrial marched toward the mic and grabbed it with both hands like he was gonna strangle it, and loomed toward the lucky audience members in front with the more expensive tickets. He may have aged, but the vitriol in his performance has all the menace and swagger of a rock behemoth that gives contemporary moron 'rock' stars half his age a run for their money as far as performing with brass balls and musical innovation is concerned.

We were seated in upper box b, so the view wasn't that spectacular. Good thing they were selling those handy cardboard binoculars for only P50 a piece so we got to see the band a little more clearly. Reznor's look nowadays is a far cry from the long-haired and lanky alternative-era doomsayer who popularized songs about self-destruction, unsavory sexual practices and suicide; even penning one of the most recognizable choruses in pop culture history courtesy of "Closer", off 1994's The Downward Spiral. That song, incidentally, may also be NIN's most popular as well. I assume it is, because when the opening beats for that song came on, the audience just went crazy. The man who performed last Wednesday was buffed and sporting a close cropped hair and looking every bit like a man in his mid-40s might look. If you didn't know the guy you'd probably assume he's the band manager instead of the singer. But when he screamed "Too fucked up to care anymore!!!", you'd agree that no manager in this planet can do that with as much conviction as he did.

What followed was a set that was simultaneously loud, brutal but soft, and even gentle and pristine in some parts. The stun-volume favorites were there: Gave Up, March Of The Pigs, Wish and Head Like A Hole. But in my opinion the most arresting bits were the less-than famous ambient/instrumental tracks taken off the little known 1999 release The Fragile. Notably the ocean-filled imagery of La Mer. That was certainly enough to give everyone pause, specially first-timers who probably thought thrashing and abrasive music are only things the band knew how to do. And the lighting that Mr Morose was complaining about earlier added to the atmosphere of every song (I think he came around it at the end; he was utterly stunned.). It had the same loud-soft dynamics that the band continously hammered the audience with. They even performed covers of David Bowie and Joy Division. With the latter also featured in the OST of The Crow way back in '94. They ended the set with 'Hurt'. A perfect epilogue to a historic tour that I'm sure won't happen again. In that regard all who watched it were very lucky.

NIN belongs to my generation, and I am proud because of it.