Assorted Tori Tales

i first heard about Tori Amos in the early 90s with the song Cornflake Girl. a friend in Cebu told me about it the first time i dropped by there before going home to Iligan via boat. back then, plane rides were considered a luxury i had to endure 2 nights of travel to Manila where i studied college and home to our province. that semestral break, i exercised pure independence by taking that boat to Cebu before heading home as some sidetrip, tee-hee!

when i went home to Iligan via another overnight boat trip i already had the cassette tape of Under The Pink heavily playing in my borrowed walkman as company.

i then started buying all her tapes/cds even asking for cd singles from friends who went to the US. i even had a VHS copy of Little Earthquakes which i got from a friend who happens to be another toriphile.

***

when i joined a writers workshop in 1998, i met a few friends who were also into Tori. we talked in depth about her and her music, sometimes like screaming giggly fans but most often like pensive admirers. the most significant memory i have of that workshop was when we stayed at the rooftop, smoked and listened enrapt to her songs in a mini cassette player one serene evening. it was pure magic!

***

in the early 2000, i had a shirt printed out with her image. i had it made at Copylandia here in Katipunan. unfortunately, i don't know where that shirt is now. thus i intend to have another one soon.


***

when Neil Gaiman came here for the very first time, i queued up with Jaybee, another Tori fan, for more than 6 hours at Gateway just for his autograph. and yes, it was in a copy of Death the High Cost of Living where Tori wrote the intro. Full story of that embarrassing moment here.



***
about two years ago, i found this site, hereinmyhead.com, which has all the downloadable mp3s of her live performances, acoustic recordings, remix versions etc that i could get my hands on. i must have spent the entire night and day downloading and listening to them in full volume as if she had her concert in the four corners of my room.

i remember refusing a date with T that time because i was so overwhelmed with my newfound loot. i chose to stay home and listen to the downloads instead of going out with him. :p

***

just this summer, i asked my sister to get me a copy of A Comic Book Tattoo when she came home from New York. and yes, she brought me one albeit incessant whines that the "book" was too big and too heavy she had to have it shipped along with her other stuff in a balikbayan box.

another friend also came home last week of May just in time for the release of the latest Abnormally Attracted to Sin album last May 18. so yes, i got them all. ;)


***

one fine day of surfing around pinoyexchange, i chanced on a post which invited toriphiles in the Philippines to sign up to a yahoogroup and eventually attend occasional meet ups! thus on that fateful day of August 21, i met more fans in the packed Conspiracy Bar in Visayas Ave. it was a pre-birthday gig of Tori who celebrates her day every 22nd of August. i heard they have been doing this for about 5 years yet i've only heard about it now, eek!


guest performers were Isha Abubakar, Kate Torralba, Angel Aquino (who read some poems), a band called Matilda, college schoolmate Khavn de la Cruz, Tao Aves, Divine, Aba Dalena, the gorgeous Wawi Navarossa and Nerissa Guevarra who did an interpretative dance.

i have to specially say how amazed i was of Kate Torralba's performance and passion to play Tori's songs on the piano. i am actually considering of getting her own album soon.

it was quite an unforgettable night. i had goosebumps all over hearing these performers sing her songs with utter reverence. but it was more heartwarming being in a roomful of people who knew her songs by heart too.

and i'm more glad to say i've found another friend In Alden, the group's/show's captain hehe...and Siege who took the beautiful photos that night, and paid for my drink and the table charge (i think) haha! merci, friends!

***

i will forever be a toriphile. i used to have so many dreams of seeing her in my travels, like bumping on her in the airports or at a quaint cafe or some cd signing session, wherever. and i still look forward to seeing her perform live, how about starting tha petition, Alden! lol!

bliss!

my current comfort food...rich and chewy carrot cake from Bo's Coffee Club. best of all it is just 60 pesos, perfect for my ultra-low budget days!

rendered sleepless

imagine the shock of my life when i came home one very early Sunday morning to find out that a man had been murdered inside our building.

we just brought T to the airport that time and after harried goodbyes and well-wishes i was brought home. i was so sleepy and tired and deeply melancholic. and such disturbing news was indeed too much for me to take.

the body was found that Saturday night but they had to wait for the police which eventually came much later that Sunday morning.

i tried to sleep that day in spite of the buzz i'd hear from downstairs. sometimes i would strain the words and hope to understand them all as i drift on and off some fitful sleep.

it became quite a struggle for a couple days. i couldn't decide whether to focus on the fear and the shock or languish in sadness once more.

there were nights when i'd get to sleep early only to be awoken in the middle of night thinking how a man struggled for his life just a few distance from where i am.

i would pass by his room everyday and i can't help but shiver each time.

just this weekend, we had a mass in the building to at least help us be at peace with each one. we had the building and his room blessed and the silly me even went inside the restroom where he had his last breath. it was an eerie feeling but i knew i had to see it and felt what i was like being there.

such a waste of life indeed. but what lies ahead we don't know really anyway. i can't do anything but pray for peace, pray for justice and for the assailant/s' consciences to continue disturbing them from hereon.

********************************


the long nights have made me turn back to my books. i still have a lot of backlogs anyway.

i finally finished reading Kim Edwards' The Memory Keeper's Daughter. Such a poignant family drama about an act one had to keep from his loved one. A secret which eventually affected the actions and reactions of the keeper. I could not help but ask over and over again how a person who's supposed to love you so much can keep such an important detail in your life. i could only sigh in deep regret upon seeing their family fall too distantly apart as the story progresses.

i had to understand the timeline though, and so yeah, maybe times were really so different then and reactions of the people could be well understood. o-kay.

It is heartwarming and heartbreaking and i could not help but shed tears and slam my fists asking "why, why, why??" but well...it ended and i had to tell myself over and over again that maybe it really was for the better. yeah right!


*******************************

i'm glad we had the long weekend at least i had enough time to catch up on sleep by daytime when i could not do so at night. but i know i need to readjust soon.

i definitely need more inspiration. to be able to see life with more colors, and love and passion. wearing a groovy rose-tinted glasses could be an option. whatever it takes. a smile, a hug, a gentle shove, whatever.

Tori Night '09

Thanks to the internet, for i found fellow Toriphiles here in Manila who are after all more active in meeting up and organizing events for her cause. Not really a mean, mean cause but something like holding a gig and meeting up for coffee while sharing insights and other stories about her influence.

This year, an event in celebration of her birthday (Aug. 22) has been organized. Dubbed as Assorted Fairy Tales, this will be held this Friday, Aug. 21 at the Conspiracy Bar in. QC. Description of the said event is as follows:

On the annual Tori Amos Night event, fans of renowned singer/songwriter and piano prodigy Tori Amos from all over the Philippines celebrate her unique artistry.
This year’s Tori Amos Night, dubbed as “Assorted Fairy Tales,” will take place on 21 August, the eve of her birthday. Pinoy Toriphiles (Tori Amos fans) will gather at Conspiracy Bar and Garden Café, located at 59 Visayas Avenue, Quezon City, to listen to Tori’s songs and words as rendered by her fans and respected local artists and bands. Among those who will be performing are Isha, Kate Torralba, Khavn Dela Cruz, Carol Bello, Matilda, Tao Aves, Scarlet Tears, and special guests such as Ms Angel Aquino who will read poems from poets that inspired Tori’s lyricism and "a female Pinoy alt-rock icon" who's going to perform a Tori Amos cover for the first time.
-----
Tori Amos is among the most enduring and well respected musical artists of her generation, having gathered among the most dedicated fandoms and influenced many of her peers in the industry. She is considered a musical prodigy, particularly with her favored instrument, the piano; she began composing instrumental pieces and was given a full scholarship to the prestigious Peabody Conservatory of Music at age five. She has since released 10 studio albums, been nominated for eight Grammy awards, and co-founded the Rape, Abuse, and Incest National Network (RAINN), a help line that connects callers to their local rape crisis center.

This is my first time ever to attend such an event and i'm pretty excited never mind if i'll have to go by myself. Oh well...Who knows, maybe next time we'll have her perform here in the country. Yay!

amidst a sea of yellows

...were specks of blues and greens each one yelling their rah-rahs for their team.

i could not relay to you all the technical terms but the entire time that we were in araneta just before 5 PM up to the end of the game at past 8pm was a real torture for me. i was closing my eyes most of the time in full suspense. i preferred staring at the score box with my fingers crossed instead of focusing on what's happening on court. lol.

we were behind up to the third quarter, keeping up or scoring a point or two once in a while but the three point scores from the other team which we thought almost came from nowhere proved to be utter surprises.

i wanted to go home in the middle of the game because the suspense was just killing me. it was almost stressfull!

i even heard some guys near me who were telling each other that they'd leave by 4th quarter in case things would still not change for the better.

imagine our frustration when the the score tied as the time buzzed off haha!

i was already composing in my mind what i was gonna say in case we did lose, that maybe it's Tita Cory's way of telling us to be humble at all times. that we could falter and can't be great all the time.

we just amused ourselves by screaming funny yells as "do it for Jiggy! do it for Kris!" if only to distract ourselves from nervousness and the anxiety of possibly losing the game.

phew, imagine our roars of glee and approval and relief when the overtime ended and we were still leading at 4 points. phew indeed!

this is my second game seen live which we've won. I'm so glad Tsak's lucky streak is still raging on hehehe....

rained on in boracay

(july 31-aug. 2, 2009)




this is what boracay is like on sunny, summery days.






this is what greeted us when we went there last weekend, just when Typhoon Jolina raged in the country.



the cold gusty winds and rain showers though didn't deter the tourists from enjoying nature.



frolicking on the beach was still deemed enjoyable in spite of the challenges of having to keep one's balance when the waves start rushing in.




the fishes in the the ocean didn't disappoint though.



our boatmen never stopped boasting about the possibility of us having to meet Dory, Nemo and friends, and yes we sure did! (not in the photo though hehe)



otherwise we spent most of our time eating, having coffee, drinking, and eating again...and yes partying till morning!




i sure hoped we had a better weather especially for most of my friends who went there for the first time. but what the heck, we still had a great time.

Nine Inch Nails in Manila

I did post it here in my calendar event!

so thank you, thank you Andrea for sharing with us your Patron tickets! otherwise we might have missed it altogether. *sniff*

i arrived pretty late to the concert because of some shower mishap haha! but we did got there on time before they actually started playing...but oh so sorry that we missed Pupil. Eden would have killed me had she been there wehehehe....

i was psych-ing myself up that Trent Reznor may not be as hot anymore since he's aged most considerably. i remember seeing an older Stephan Jenkins of Third Eye Blind last year and can't help but exclaim how most of my favorite acts have gotten old already waah!

but surprise, surprise! Trent was still as hot as ever even more buff than i remember him (naks, close!).



here's the complete set list which i got from pinoyexchange:

somewhat damaged
terrible lie
heresy
march of the pigs
piggy
closer
reptile
the becoming
i'm afraid of americans
burn
gave up
la mer
the fragile
non entity
gone, still
downward spiral
wish
survivalism
mr. self destruct
echoplex
the day the world went away
dead souls
hand that feeds
head like a hole
hurt

yes, they did play Closer! i heard they rarely perform this in their shows. and i could not help but scream my heart out when they did Dead Souls! i had it recorded but i was jumping and singing and shouting about that the video quality must be really poor hehehe...



i particularly appreciated the fact that they didn't attempt to play chummy with the audience like regaling us with Tagalog words they've picked up or saying how beautiful the Philippines or Filipinas are which i believe is too pretentious anyway.

the crowd was pretty tamed yet i'm sure most of us enjoyed and got infected with the band's energy. kudos as well to the blinding lights onstage and the resounding acoustics inside the coliseum. such a rock on night indeed!


oh just some trvia, Trent Reznor is rumored to have had more than friendship with Tori Amos. he's now engaged though to a Filipina who is a vocalist for another rock band, so i won't be surprised in case we get to see him in the country every now and then yi-ha! haha!

Paalam, Tita Cory

i'm glad my scramblings paid off, was able to join the Ateneo contingent who happened to have shuttle buses to take us to the Manila Cathedral for the funeral mass. we also managed to secure tickets so we could enter the church and witness everything that took place during the mass.

the experience was truly overwhelming. i couldn't help but shed tears for the loss but tears of inexplicable joy were also shed for that privelege of having known such a great person in this lifetime.�

Salamat, Tita Cory for reminding us how great it is to be a Filipino!

Farewell to that great lady in yellow

it's about time that i'd officially mourn.

i thought i can just let it go. that after knowing about the death of more personalities back then, and some close friends, and even relatives, one more news of someone dying can just make me go numb and not care anymore.�

but it's not. reality hits you and hits you to the core leaving you almost paralyzed.

i was at the mall today with my niece when i saw several people in yellows and seeing yellow ribbons tied around trees and lamp posts and i realize that Pres. Corazon Aquino is indeed gone. i felt like i shouldn't be at the mall in times like this. it just didn't feel right.i should be watching the news or livestreams or better yet stand in line there where she lays.

i saw myself texting friends and acquaintances to scramble for company only to find out that tickets were distributed just last night and there's nothing left already. argh!

i feel so totally frustrated at the fact that i got to line up for almost 5 hours just for an autograph of the Blue Eagles champions last year yet can't even get to view the late president now for i don't care how many more hours.�

thus i might see myself mulling and mourning in the confines of my room tomorrow, wednesday during the burial. maybe light a candle or two while watching some livestreaming on the net or broadcasts on TV, whatever. who knows i just might even get to drag myself all the way to the Manila Cathedral for the funeral mass, never mind if i can't even get in nor see her remains. i don't care. i know i just have to stop and do something.

i still have to mourn no matter how we all comfort ourselves with the idea that at least she is now in peace. i mourn because she is indeed gone, one good image of a strong woman who has encompassed so many trials and tribulations. i mourn because in a way, it is how i'd want to celebrate her life.�

i don't know her personally, well most of us don't. but as a public figure, a good figure at that she deserves at least a little of our time to just stop and salute the life she has led.

Project Shoebox

this facebook feature of allowing us to tag our long lost friends when we post their photos is just so much fun. I am sure that most of us now are bent in looking for our old photos and having them scanned for us to upload. that is, if we haven't done it yet.

the past several weeks saw me scanning Tsak's numerous old photos and even his IDs from grade school to high school which made me green with envy. i lost most of mine kasi. he kept them all in a shoebox and i deem them totally precious. it's like having all his jewels in it. (no, not those kind of jewels, fool!)

it's actually a fun trip to his memory lane. it's like looking into a pensieve where i get to draw out one memory of his after another. each one must have its own story to tell that i could only wonder and ponder about.

when we went to my late friend, Bambie's wake last weekend, his parents showed us several albums of our photos which he took when we were in college. thus we spent our time going through them and laughing and teasing each other with how we look back then. we almost forgot we were in front of his casket as he laid there still while we continued recalling those wonderful moments.

we said we wanted to borrow them so we could scan them for all the others to see but his parents were much kinder to entrust them to us for safekeeping. They are now with Macoy and I'm sure he is now having a grand time looking and marveling at each photo.

Bambie is so right with what he wrote on my journal, which i quote:

Sa bawat litrato naramdaman ko na napatigil ko ang panahon at maari kung ariin ang panahong iyun. "Akin ito, alala ko ito!" Kahit paano ay nagtagumpay ako sa pagtipon ng ilang bahagi ng nakaraan sa akin.

i have partially done my own Project Shoebox a while back but i know i still have more photos out there somewhere which begs for my attention as well. i hope i could find them really soon before it gets into slow decay.

meanwhile, this also gives us the license to camwhore some more and capture more memories. life is indeed so short. and there's just so many events, so many people that we get to encounter each day that remembering all of them all at once can be too hard for our brains.

so here's to making more fond memories, more picture-taking, and yes, more scanning!

"MASKOT"

so my college friend, Macoy Tang is now a true blue cartoonist!

got a copy of his mini comic book, Maskot. i don't really know what's it's called but it's just photocopied and can easily be passed on and distributed/sold to friends.

it's a story about, well, a mascot who had quite some mis/adventures with his costume.

it is not entirely pambata more so because it shows us a little bit about how grouchy this supposedly funny man could be.

i like it's simplicity and candidness but i have to admit i'd get to appreciate it more if it is colored. :)

thanks, for the gift, Tang and like any comic book fan i would surely treasure this one. i know you'll still go a long long way and i can't help but add, i'm sure our friend, Bambie is beaming and is so proud of you now.
btw, i'm a fan of Gerry Alanguilan's Wasted too and i'm happy for you that he's endorsing this piece as well, yey!

So long, Bambie

my last conversation with Bambie was just a few weeks ago when i was battling flu. he told me to get well soon. it was a bit late when i read his facebook status saying how sick he was too those past days, i wasn't able to wish him well in return.

Bambie has always been unselfish, we've all know him to have battled some kidney problems the past several years yet i've never heard him complain. we never talked about his health condition everytime we get to catch each other on YM. or i just never bothered to ask. i just felt it wasn't really right asking him about it. so he'd end up often telling me how to take care of myself, to keep on with my travels, to enjoy life.

a few months back i remember writing about having found my old 'something" from college. we talked about seeing each other again so he could peruse it. it would have been nice going back in time with him again along with all the other batchmates. too bad he has to go on ahead of us.

here's some excerpts from what he wrote on my journal, pretty apt indeed:

Isang tanong lang, "Paano na ang buhay kung wala sina Lang, Winf, Jessa, Kalon, Cherry, Tina, Ron, Ferds, Myet, Lot, Sidky, Karla, Kai, Sassa, Liezle, Tetet, Chi, King?" Parang "death" question, iniiwasan pero kailangan harapin. Nalalapit na nga ang katapusan. Darating na ang mga umaga na na di na katulad ng dati, na nananabik sa mga sandaling makita kayo. It could be one dull day after another. Sana hindi. Naniniwala pa naman ako na may ganda pang maibibigay ang buhay., na ang "ganda" ay hindi nasa isang package na tinatawag nating "college". Sa ngayon, hirap akong makita ang gandang ito.

Darating ang araw na hahanap-hanapin ko ang mga anyo ninyo. Sino ang mga makikita ko? Hindi sapat ang mga magagandang alaala, mali, sapat pala ang mga magagandang alaala subalit ito ay maaring mabaon sa limot.

Nanood ako ng Chicago Hope kagabi, tungkol ito sa isang duktor na hiniwalayan ng asawa. Tinulak siya ng pagmamahal upang itanong, "Paano ang mga umagang gigising ako na wala siya sa tabi ko?" "Gumising ka lang!" sagot kapwa niya duktor. Medyo Laconic pero nandiyan talaga ang sagot.

i want this...

and this...

and this one too:

but i still need about a hundred sit ups a day to look good in them.

*sigh*

(my officemates must be wondering why i''m staring dreamily at these babes, lol!)

hilot

nope, i'm not talking about that nasty type of hilot. :p

my mom finally brought home a manang hilot to help me out with my constant complaints for pains and numbness on my right shoulders up to the entire arm. i constantly get massages but i was told they are not really enough to take out the knots or lamig sa katawan as they only press them and not really take them out.

masakit ha! the last time i went to a hilot was when i guess i was still a kid. i had to lie down on the bed because i felt like fainting as she started kneading and pressing on my shoulder blades.

pati kilikili ko may lamig din daw! which explains now the pangangalay.

well, after about 30 minutes closing my eyes while hearing her laborious breathing as she tried hard to loosen those knots we were finally done.

i felt lighter and more relaxed. yun nga lang i can't take a bath that day. had i known i should have taken my bath early this morning but then i was still fast asleep when they arrive. but then again, the smell and greasy feel of liniment will still linger on. yup, i'm currently amoy bukayo with a little mixture of ginger and garlic and i dunno what else Manang mixed on her potion.

i'm just wondering, will Manang get to pass on her hilot skills to a younger one for the next generations? may hilot din kaya sa ibang bansa especially the more progressive ones? or may hilot din kaya sa mga spas natin sa metro? hmmm....

flying first class

Thanks to Philippine Airlines Mabuhay Miles program, i was able to score a first class round trip ticket to CDO at half it's regular mileage points. I only paid travel taxes amounting to barely 2300.00. Yes i'm a regular traveler but i always take economy class. I am still after all masa and ignorant to these things.


So i learned that the perks of traveling first class actually start upon entering the express entrance lane at the airport, having its own counter for check-in and an access to its Mabuhay Lounge. The lounge actually offers meals, free soup and assorted sandwiches and fruits and dessert and coffee and drinks. One can even have some beer from the ref. Too bad i had a rather early flight and my stomach is not really accustomed to heavy breakfast meals. But yes, i did finish one mini croissant sandwich filled with bacon, lettuce and tomato, one mini sandwich with grilled chicken, a serving of their mini banoffee crepe and two more mini croissants with butter. plus 3 more cups of their brewed coffee. phew! and there's wi-fi at the lounge too.





upon boarding the plane, one is ushered to the first few seats. seats are wider thus having more room. since i'm pretty petite i felt like umaalog-alog ako that i wanted to sing bulilit bulilit ang liit liit! it was a bit uncomfortable for me. i tried to sleep as soon as the plane took off but too much caffeine was really hard to fight off eh. and then the steward approached me to serve some more food, OMG! i couldn't help but remember Fr. Gorospe from my Theology of Liberation class telling us all about social sins! I mean how could one afford to have this too much luxuries in just an hour and 15 minute flight? i was still too full and yet there's still more food!
upon deplaning, there's still one more perk. our bags would come out the earliest after having been tagged as "priority" baggages. so this must be what the aristocrats feel like. have the best priority and full service everything. i almost felt like there was a chauffeur driven car waiting outside to take me home. but of course reality just have to jolt us back in as i had to hail a cab to take me to the bus station to where i should be going. okay, back to reality. i am still very much hoi polloi.
but wait, it's a round trip fare so i will still enjoy these perks again when i go back to Manila next week.

Tony Takitani

� � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � Tony Takitani is one of the two Japanese films i caught at last week's Eiga-Sai at the Shangri-la. I was particularly drawn to this film because it is based on a short story by Haruki Murakami who i discovered fairly recently. Murakami has his way of telling stories which transports you into an almost transcluscent world and i was kinda curious as to how his stories would appear on film.

True enough, i found the movie fairly gauzy but in a clean and crisp way. It's like watching the characters in their real setting but is still seemingly floating, apart from everyone else.�

Just like most of his stories, this also delves on loneliness and solitude. A theme that is evident in Japanese culture, what with their boxed, and i say, almost claustrophobic lifestyle. Everything in its compartmentalized, organized state.

The main character, Tony Takitani is shunned since his childhood because of his foreign sounding name. Life has then taught him to fend for himself and wallow in solitude. He dabbled in a career in technical design and as a really good artist, made great money with it. In his latter years, he met a woman who he eventually fell in love with and married. The woman however has one great fault. She is so much addicted to shopping for designer clothes.

I bet most of the Japanese women could relate to the story. It is a running joke for most Filipinos in Japan, that for one to win a Japanese woman's heart, one must be ready to shower her with material gifts mostly of designer bags, shoes, clothes.

The film thus takes us into a woman's closet and how she fills them with one wonderful piece of clothing to another. How she picks each one item from the racks, buys, caresses, smells and worships them could almost be contaminating. Almost like some scene from Confessions of a Shopaholic!

But it is also this same addiction that leads to her tragic end.

Which brings us back to the prevailing theme of sadness and isolation and solitude.

Yes, pretty heavy and profound.�

"take away"

in Malaysia, or even in some other countries, food you "take out" or is "to go" is called "take away" which is why they would ask you if it's "for here?" or "take away?".�

while we were having a great time with our drinks one time at some bar in Kota Kinabalu, my friend took fancy of their paper coaster. she nonchalantly asked the waiter if she could take them home. the waiter replied with:

"yes, just don't let us know"

my friend then hinted on the beer mug,
"how about this one?"

the waiter said, "yes, just hide it. don't let us see it"�

so there.�

VINCCI'S

my love affair with Vincci's started when we went to Kuala Lumpur lst year and got to visit their stall at some mall. I'm not really fond of girly shoes but staring at endless rows and rows of shoes in delicate designs and very reasonable prices too are just too hard to ignore.

i bought myself two pairs, a 4 inch silver and transparent sandals and a red number in patent leather.

i got the silver one for 69 RM and the red one at 59 RM and both at a 20% discount so just please do the Math. 1 RM is about 14 pesos.�

i became doubly excited when i learned that there are Vincci outlets in Kota Kinabalu and yes, we again scoured all of them when we went there last week.

the selection was just too much for me to bear. i want all of them! but of course i don't really know when and how i'd get to wear them anyway so i only took home two pairs too.

a red low-heeled sandals with gold studs at 65 RM and an old rose/maroon/gold sandals at 70 RM...both at 20% off as well.�

so you would understand what the craze is all about, Vincci's is locally known as VNC and it is priced at 1500-3000 pesos per pair here in our country. �