Fave Song: "Estranged" by Guns N' Roses (1993)

This song made me love GnR; one of my most favorite songs ever! 7th grade...life was so much simpler back then :P 90's rock was the best music to grow up to...

Fave Band: Moonpools and Caterpillars

It's been a while since I thought about this band.

I had their cassette Lucky Dumpling back in high school (actually it was my sis's), but it somehow got lost. Nireresurrect ko pa naman mga cassette ko lately because of the deaths of Mike Francis, Francis M, and Michael Jackson. Just lucky that a cassette recorder that Andrew lent me a couple of years ago still works. Now I really wish Lucky Dumpling didn't get lost...I'll try looking for it again...

My favorite tracks are Soon and Hear, which were both on my iPod (yet another thing I inherited from my sis), but sadly my iPod has died on me, too.

And just tonight, I rediscovered another single that was released from that album - Ren. I never even realized that that was the title of the song, I just remember the lyrics: "Used to walk slowly, now I'm running. Catchin' up's gettin' hard to do. Tell me now, tell me now, what's got into you?"

I tried hard to find it on YouTube, but only came up with a pretty nice cover (well, at least, the best of the very few search results).

I checked out their MySpace, which is where I've been streaming albums from the 90's lately, but they didn't upload the whole album, and only one of the four tracks in their playlist works. Sad.

They're so hard to find, even on the Net.

There are a lot of Hear and Soon, though on YouTube. There is even footage of their visit here to the Philippines in the mid 90's. It's so cute how their vocalist Kimi is so hyper onstage, and how she's the only Am in the Fil-Am group (she's married to the band's guitarist, Jay Jay). Here's some more information about them that I found through Google.

If I had a band, I'd love to cover their songs. Ehem ehem, Soupagetti :D

Fave Band: Mr. Big

Lately, I've been listening to my Mr. Big cassette tapes - Lean Into It (1991), Bump Ahead (1993), and Hey Man (1995), quite sad that I would never hear these songs live again, as the band had broken up years ago and were pretty much not friends with each other.

Much to my surprise and delight, I stumbled upon news at Peyups.com that they are currently having a reunion tour in Japan. I promptly head over to Wikipedia, YouTube, and MrBigSite.com to confirm the news. I was overjoyed to see that it was indeed true. And of course, I was very happy that they were all friends again :)

Billy Sheehan and Paul Gilbert are considered gods in their respective roles as bassist and guitarist. Pat Torpey's got some cool beats. And Eric Martin's voice is gold. Nothing compares to Mr. Big. I really really really really really wish their reunion tour extends to the Philippines, pero sana kasal na ako nun para may funds ako pambili ng ticket sa concert nila, hehehe.

To the Big fans out there, what are your favorite songs? It's darn hard to pick just a few...but I guess Just Take My Heart would be one of my most favorite songs of all time (love the intro!). I also love Nothing But Love, Goin' Where the Wind Blows, Green Tinted Sixties Mind, and Take Cover.

Photo credit: http://www.ampeg.com/roundsound/The%20Boys%20of%20Mr.%20Big.jpg

Fave Artist: Lisa Loeb

I ADORE LISA LOEB.

I've loved her since she sang "Stay" in 1994. Totally blown over when she sang "Do You Sleep" in 1995. I clearly remember being all anxious about getting her "Tails" cassette as soon as I heard "Do You Sleep?" enter NU107's Midnight Countdown. (Haha, how 90s can you get?! :P)

I actually don't know much of her outside of her albums (I heard she was on some reality show), and I'm not really sure I was able to follow her beyond her "The Way It Really Is" album. But I still consider myself a huge fan.

It was a very big disappointment when her Hard Rock gig here in Manila didn't push through back in the late 90s. I still don't know why that didn't happen.

Lisa is on my list of artists-to-see-live-before-I-die, along with Counting Crows.

I like that her voice is so nice and girly, and yet still not too high for me to reach :D Whenever I play guitar, "Stay" and "Do You Sleep?" are part of my staples. I just hate how I can't play and sing at the same time so I fumble a lot with the phrasings and pluckings of "Do You Sleep?" :)) But I totally love playing them.

Here are some awesome live performances by Lisa on YouTube:

"Stay" (March 2006), with a nice commentary at the start. She talks of how "Stay" jumpstarted her mainstream success, with the help of her friend Ethan Hawke, who by the way directed a one-take and no-edits music video for this song (couldn't find any other upload so this'll do). Btw, I didn't know Ben Stiller directed "Reality Bites", hehe. I haven't watched that film yet - so much for being a 90s kid, huh.


"Do You Sleep?" (March 2004). I like the electric guitar riff during the intro/outro; it's not in the original recording. One of my favorite songs of all time.


More Lisa Loeb videos from lisaloebshrine on YouTube.

Fave Album: "Primordial Soup" (1996) by Violent Playground

I discovered a gem at the record bar in Landmark, TriNoma last Wednesday: a CD of Violent Playground's debut album, "Primordial Soup"!

I literally squealed when I spotted this on the racks; it must've looked pretty awkward because I was all by my lonesome then :D

I have the cassette of this from way back 10+ years ago. The inlay doesn't indicate the date of release though so I'm not really sure if the year was actually 1995. I checked online and they have this on titikpilipino.com, but the release date (of the CD, I presume) is 2008; and the inlay for the CD says it's copyrighted 2007. Anyway...
EDIT: Ok, MSN Music says the CD was released 1996.

I totally love this album. I was in ecstasy when the band reunited (after 6 years apart) for one night only at Rock Radio Cafe in Alabang in 2003 (one of my first few Admit One gigs).


Other pics from that Admit One gig.

Fave tracks include "Moist", "Starvation Army", and "Never the Bright Lights".

Here they are performing "Starvation Army" and "Never the Bright Lights" at the 1996 NU107 Rock Awards:


I kinda remember having a slight crush on RJ (their vocalist) back in high school, hehe.

A CD of their sophomore album would be a great find, too. Though I believe I didn't even lay eyes on the cassette version of that...

Related VP link:
https://music.msn.com/music/album-review/violent-playground/primordial-soup/

My CD and cassette versions of "Primordial Soup". The cassette inlay is more interesting, with the comic strip surrounding the lyrics, and pics of and thank yous from the band. The CD inlay only has the album cover and the tracklist. I believe the original album art is by Dino Ignacio, the same guy responsible for the animated "Maritess vs the Superfriends" skit of Fil-Am comedian Rex Navarette :)

Pearl Jam reissues TEN (in four special editions!)

Kailan kaya ito makakarating sa Pilipinas? (Kung sakali man...)

Play the Ten Game - fun! Ang tagal kong binuo...30+mins. Hehehe.

http://www.pearljamtengame.com

Wolfgang VI...coming soon?! - VILLAINS 2008

(Basti himself posted this on his MySpace!)

OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG

Must...learn...to...breath...

This could potentially make me go crazier than that darned Eheads reunion...

08/07/08 UPDATE!!!

This just in from Mr. Artadi:

Things that Rick Astley will never do

Menggai (Ma'am Cheng), her good friend, and I will be watching Rick Astley at the Big Dome on August 1.

Not a diehard Rick fan, but seeing that he's just as cute as he was two decades ago convinced me to at least get General Admission seats and see him perform his charttopping hits: Never Gonna Give You Up, Together Forever, Cry For Help (with that heartbreaking piano intro). He's really got this awesome voice which hasn't changed a bit, and actually looks good on him now that he's more mature than (but still) babyface. (Labo ko, haha!)

So anyway, before I turn in tonight, just wanted to blog about my favorite Rick Astley songs:

It Would Take A Strong Strong Man (1988)

Hopelessly (1993) - just rediscovered tonight how I used to LOVE this song

Right now, it's Wolfgang all over Eheads

I'm deathly busy, but this is very very important to me, thus the need to blog about it. Hehehe.

- - - - -

A lot of my high school friends would be surprised if they heard me say this now.

I was so much more an Eheads fan back then than a Wolfgang fan. Right now, maybe it's a tie in terms of the music. But if we're talking about reunions, I'd pick the Wolfgang gig over the Eheads thing in a jiffy.

Firstly, a Wolfgang reunion gig would feature new songs, whereas I doubt the reunited Heads could spend enough time together to come up with new material.

Secondly, a Wolfgang reunion gig would most probably have a more peaceful atmosphere (even though it does belong to the harder, supposedly more violent subgenre of rock) than an Eheads reunion gig. And I'm not only talking about the band members here. There are speculations left and right that the four Wolven Ones aren't really all in good terms, just as the local Fab Four are; but I believe the tension is far greater amidst the Heads. What's more, the way the Eheads rift has split apart their fans is miles away from how any Wolfgang issue may have polarized the fanbase (if there really is an issue to speak of in the first place).

In other words, an Eheads reunion gig is a riot waiting to happen (sorry to the uber excited fans, but this thought has truly bothered me from the start).

Since the Eheads gig is so HIGHLY ANTICIPATED (understatement of the year, I'd say), emotions will be running high on the day itself, including anxiety and restlessness.

Think of it - a mere 45 minute set for what you've waited for 10 years?! BITIN! Everyone waiting for a kiss-and-make-up jam? People still believing and rooting for one side over the other? Free admission with hecklers all around? I dunno man...sounds frightful to me.

Maybe it's just my coping mechanism, but I find it hard to be genuinely excited over this Eheads reunion gig. Maybe at the back of my mind I'm afraid I won't get tickets, so at least if I'm not too excited, I won't be that heartbroken. Hehehe.

Anways, as I said, I've been too busy to even go online (15 pages of "Recent Updates" and I haven't even seen the last of em!), so I haven't really kept track the Eheads thing, like where to get tickets or other whatnot.

Don't get me wrong - I'd do ANYTHING to watch the Eheads play together again. But if it means risking life and limb on my part, or maybe seeing in the flesh that the friendship truly is irreparable...I think I'll just go catch the DVD release (dapat naman meron no!)

But if we're talking Wolfgang here...front row tickets and backstage passes please! ;)

May mga kumakalat na balita...at ngayon confirmed na!

The news rendered me shocked and speechless.

One night only: The Eraserheads reunion!

Hey chip eaters, do you double dip?

Forwarded and posted by my co-teachers Mel and Ninna. Bad news for me, because I love chips and dips, as well as isaw and fishball and the sort :P

This has to be a first: A serious scientific research project was conducted based on an episode of "Seinfeld."

Clemson University food microbiologist Paul L. Dawson was watching a rerun of a 1993 episode of "Seinfeld" in which George Costanza is confronted at a funeral reception by Timmy, his girlfriend's brother, after dipping the same chip twice. "Did, did you just double-dip that chip?" Timmy asked George. "That's like putting your whole mouth right in the dip!" George retorts, "You dip the way you want to dip, I'll dip the way I want to dip."

So can double-dipping really hurt you? Dawson decided to find out, expecting there would be little or no microbial transfer from mouth to chip, reports The New York Times. Not so! He and nine students recruited volunteers and asked them to each take a bite of a wheat cracker and dip the cracker for three seconds into a tablespoon of test dip. Six dips were used: sterile water with three different degrees of acidity, a commercial salsa, a cheese dip and chocolate syrup. They repeated this using new crackers so that each dip sample had three or six double-dips in it. The Clemson team analyzed the dip to count the number of aerobic bacteria in it.

The results: On average, the students found that three to six double-dips transferred about 10,000 bacteria from the eater's mouth to the remaining dip, reports The Times. So if people sporadically double-dip into a cup of dip, at least 50 to 100 bacteria are transferred from one mouth to another with each bite.

One important note: The type of dip makes a difference. The more acidic the dip, the fewer the bacteria; however, the runnier the dip, the more bacteria are left behind. "The way I would put it is, before you have some dip at a party, look around and ask yourself, would I be willing to kiss everyone here?" Dawson told Times reporter Harold McGee. "Because you don't know who might be double-dipping, and those who do are sharing their saliva with you."

Link to the original article.

Shannon and Nico Blue Hoon

I've discovered a new appreciation for Blind Melon.

Just the other night, I read about the events leading to Shannon Hoon's drug-related death, and I just felt so sad for him and his family, especially for his daughter Nico Blue.

Here are excerpts from Blind Melon's band bio on MySpace:

"Once the album was completed in the spring of 1995, Hoon checked himself into another rehab facility at the insistence of his bandmates, which pushed the release date of the album, titled Soup, to late summer. A month before the album appeared in August, Hoon's girlfriend gave birth to the couple's first child, which Hoon said in interviews had given him a new lease on life and a reason to straighten out once and for all.

Concerned but anxious to get back on tour, the band hit the road once again. Drug counselors at the facility that Hoon had been admitted to warned the band's management that Hoon wasn't ready for the temptations of the road just yet. But Hoon convinced everyone that he was and a drug counselor/caretaker was hired to accompany him. After a month and a half of dates, the counselor was sent packing and Hoon returned back to his dangerous ways. Just a few days later, on October 21, Hoon was found dead on Blind Melon's tour bus from an apparent drug overdose, at the age of 28."

His daughter, Nico Blue, after whom the next album was named, was just 3 months old back then.


Here she is, 12 years later, singing "Change" with the rest of Blind Melon.


"Change" is the first song Shannon Hoon ever wrote. Part of its lyrics are written on Shannon's grave in his hometown Indiana.

"I know we all can't stay here forever,
So I want to write my words on the face of today."





- - - - -

Blind Melon now has a new vocalist, Travis Warren. Listen to their new stuff on MySpace:

"Much to everyone's surprise, the four surviving Blind Melon members reunited in the summer of 2006, with Amarillo, TX native Travis Warren taking Hoon's spot behind the mic. The group plans on recording a new album for release in 2007, which will also be supported by a tour (the group's first since 1995)."

Fave songs: "The Universal" by Blur

My favorite Blur song.

This is the video remember. I dunno if Damon Albarn's cane is just a prop or for real (more likely a prop, though).



This is the official video. I only discovered it through YouTube today.


And this is a lovely lovely live version, with Damon Albarn looking extra dreamy.


The song's got many things I love:
- Simple but contemplative lyrics
- Britpop with strings and horns
- A hot Englishman playing the piano =D

"THE UNIVERSAL"

This is the next century
Where the universal's free
You can find it anywhere
Yes, the future has been sold
Every night we're gone
And to karaoke songs
How we like to sing along
Although the words are wrong

It really, really, really could happen
Yes, it really, really, really could happen
When the days they seem to fall through you, well just let them go

No one here is alone, satellites in every home
Yes the universal's here, here for everyone
Every paper that you read
Says tomorrow is your lucky day
Well, here's your lucky day

It really, really, really could happen
Yes, it really, really, really could happen
When the days they seem to fall through you, well just let them go

Well, it really, really, really could happen
Yes, it really, really, really could happen
When the days they seem to fall through you, well just let them go

Just let them go