Infected by the geek bug.
By meeting the prescribed signs and symptoms you are requested to go straight to a sari-sari store, buy a liter of Gran Matador (the usual brandy of college students) and drink until you lapse into an alcoholic stupor.
1) You deviate from your usual diversions like reading books and watching movies.
- Yes, for the last movie I have watched was three weeks ago: Lord of the Rings (it’s the one with Frodo, Sam and SmeagLOL climbing on a hidden staircase on a cliff and the fallen elven bread and some huge fat arachnid envenoming Frodo) and I admittedly think it was geekishly interesting and that I should and would read it as soon as vacation starts this 16th of October.
- Yes, for I have shelved the books I’ve been reading last month (which was Harp by John Gregory Dunne and Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami).
- Also, I have been listening to Incubus (including Warning, a song sent by Juice through Yahoo! Messenger a year ago), Maroon 5 and my past inclinations. I haven’t downloaded anything that’s chart-topper new.
2) You tend to forget debuts and birthdays.
- I skipped someone’s debut by a last-minute refusal due to my organization-related duties. Worse, I forgot to tell someone to come over our house get my gift and give it to her as a way of saying thanks for the invite. I’m probably the biggest disappointment in the debut, though I’m not in a position to assume that I’m one of the VIPs there.
3) You rarely think of your girlfriend / ex-girlfriend.
- No bitterness in my side, I’m quite sure we have been seeing a lot during classes but that’s just it.
4) You won something in an academic contest.
- I recently won a trophy, my first trophy in my life (medals aside), on a Macroeconomics (Econ101) quiz contest. I ranked second out of the twenty-eight geeks who deliberately joined the contest to show off their intellectual assets and liabilities.
5) You play DoTA less frequently.
- This symptom is not true for all people. Ironically, the tons of papers to accomplish and the tons of things to review, the more chance that we would play DoTA (so there’s this positive relationship between academics and DoTA, seriously).
6) You drink coffee more often.
- NO WAY. This semester I’ve only drank a single warm cup of coffee! As of the moment (since I am very much aware that I would turn into a full-fledged coffee drinker like Dad), caffeine’s not in my system. And I don’t have a gas range or at least a thermos to boil water for coffee. That’s why last Monday night I bitterly spoon-fed myself those three-in-one packets college students buy. Yes, without water. The bitterness stayed in my mouth the entire night, but I still slept.
7) You’re too busy to even jot notes and reminders on your planner.
- I’m actually thinking of burning my planner on some bonfire since it has proved itself obsolete. Why would I waste my precious time organizing everything on its pages when I could do the planning mentally?
8) Lastly, you blog less often.
- Back then I fear that one day, I would apologize to my blog for being such a reckless, reckless slacker. This had to be it.
This entry was written by , posted on September 30, 2008 at 12:36 pm, filed under Books, books, books, IRLs, Last song syndromes, Life at UPLB and tagged debuts, DoTA, Frodo, geek, Harp, Haruki Murakami, Incubus, John Gregory Dunne, Kafka on the Shore, Lord of the Rings, Macroeconomics, Maroon 5, planners, Sam, Smeagol, Yahoo! Messenger. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink.
My rants about the Reunion Concert.
I am no die-hard Eraserheads fan but I deeply commiserate with Ely Buendia’s condition. Though okay, I admit that it was far more disappointing when I heard his sister’s apologetic voice onstage to pacify the crowd and make them understand what has happened but - as phony as it may sound - I just told myself to get away from it and wish Ely Buendia the best for his health. The fans and the listeners can expect nothing more than that.
I’m actually one of the people you would not expect to go for some Eraserheads Reunion concert. I don’t really liked them as a band (I was around 5 to 7 years old when I was exposed to their music). Though of course they were legendary, but, I don’t know: maybe I was too young to even appreciate their music. The radio stations air their songs a lot during my glorious elementary days and I can still remember my sisters (both studying at High School) and their barkadas enjoying Eraserheads like madmen on a feast with lots of food and the radio on the table. I just liked them for one thing: their music brings me back to the past.
It was undeniably my first major concert (it should have been Maroon 5 but I was just lazy to purchase tickets online) and the sight of the crowd was personally new to me. The staff was strict enough to even ban my chained wallet (and since my wanting to enter the concert premises exceeded my wanting to keep the chain, I gave them the chain for free) and to ban backpacks and most camera models. At the field there were hotdog stands and Fish and Co. and flavored bottled water and warm iced tea (I don’t even know why they called it iced tea, for chrissake) and thousands of fans ranging from their mid-thirties to teenagers with their own levels of inclination towards the band. The crowd was nostalgically united by sentimental desires of seeing Eraserheads onstage despite disbandment way back 2003.
“Magpapatuli ako kapag hindi yan yung tugtog,” shouted one avid fan’s voice to my right.
I felt stupid that out of the fifteen songs they have played onstage, I could only sing four of them and out of those four, I could only sing one slightly perfect (in terms of the lyrics) and complete.
Alapaap and Ligaya were two of the first few songs sang with fireworks booming (and right now, I’m still getting the chills while remembering the opening moments - seriously) and I just can remember all my childhood days - probably close to what everyone felt while Eraserheads was playing their songs: it’s like a broken boom box brought to life that made you vividly remember the past.
Of course it was hot and humid and concerts are one of the events where you have the right to sweat profusely, but when you wistfully sing the songs and your mind brings you back to your High School days or College days or anything belonging to the past, you suddenly forget how humid it was or how the air smelled or how many times you have been damping your handkerchief to the entire of your head.
So maybe the fans were somewhat disappointed not to enjoy the concert to the fullest with the permanent interruption of Ely’s condition, or maybe they felt cheated since they have paid for a huge amount (1,350 pesos to 800 pesos if I’m not mistaken) and have come from different places and provinces, but I hope that the mere sight of the band being complete again (or maybe they should just have one last group hug that night) quenches their thirst for something more fulfilling.
Do you think another reunion concert could somehow compensate disappointments?
I think Ely should rest for a while.
P.S: Thanks to Juned and Poyt (for the last-minute announcement of free tickets and for her immaculate patience) and Red Horse for the tickets given gratis. Now, PICTURES! And link-love to newly-found friends and blogger friends as well who attended the event: Ria Jose, Carlo, Fritz, Rens, Jhed, Xienah, Aaron, Alan, Shari and Bleue (belated happy birthday, btw), L.A., Coy, Jeff, and everyone else!
This entry was written by , posted on September 1, 2008 at 9:09 pm, filed under Events, Last song syndromes and tagged Eheads, Ely Buendia, Eraserheads, Eraserheads Reunion Concert, Maroon 5, Red Horse, Taguig, The Fort. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink.
First degree burns and the welcome party.
I welcome myself back to the cult of smokers.
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It was kind of weird, really. I’ve had a twelve-hour sleep a while ago, and other than the headache were scenes from my dream flashing on my mind in its wispy characteristic. Of course it was unreal, since we’re inside a hospital of some sort raided by an army of hunters or killers or robots (I can’t really remember) and I was so scared I hid, together with my friends, on waste bins (and up to this moment I’m really wondering how the hell I got inside a waste bin). I don’t even know why I’m scared to death even if I know it’s just a dream!
And what’s even good is that - I have this capability of unconsciously waking up for a minute and then go back to the scenes of my horrible dream. It’s better than movies!
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I planned on making a video narrative today of Maroon 5’s She Will be Loved video. After watching the entire video for three times in a row, I suddenly got the whole story - but then I abandoned that idea of making it a narrative since it’s lustful. It’s an impossible video. The idea’s relatively the same with Fountain of Wayne’s Stacy’s Mom: courting someone within your age bracket and then, the lead character ends up on kissing his soon-to-be girlfriend’s mother. Only, in Maroon 5’s - the lead had to choose between the mother and the daughter.
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I pretty screwed up while I’m chatting with three people a while ago at Y!M since I’m smoking. So I’m holding the stick on my left hand while typing and it pretty burned up one of my right fingers (I don’t really know how it happened). Good thing it’s just small - else someone has to prepare explanations in front of his Dad. LOL.
It’s not really much of an issue with my Dad whether I’m smoking or not. It’s my sisters. And my mother. Screw them for thinking that I was still a “straight-edged” teenage boy even if I’ve been a little less of a drunkard. It would be a real shock for them if they learned about it.
Anyway, I’m sort of back to my nocturnal smoking. This is part of the relapse, really.
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Watched two movies today: Blue Smoke (Alicia Witt, Matthew Settle) and WarGames (Matthew Broderick). The latter’s amazing for a 1983 movie, really.
*the post header courtesy of this site. Most of the post headers are mine, otherwise stated.
This entry was written by , posted on May 20, 2008 at 8:34 pm, filed under Films, IRLs, Slang and random and tagged Blue Smoke, Fountain of Wayne, Maroon 5, Stacy's Mom, WarGames. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink.