Home in a bit...in the meantime...

Field bio 2008's almost up. Here now at a net cafe in Olongapo, photocopying last minute handouts Last leg in a while - JEST Camp in the forests of Subic In the meantime, let me leave you with some breathtaking scenes from where we've been.

Mt. Pinatubo - Sir Espinas, Ma'am Lhen, Ma'am Dacs, Sir Jun. Brrrrr.

Tondol Beach, Anda, Pangasinan

P.S. I - and the kids - are loving Tomi my camera big time :P The field bio kids are becoming more rabid camwhores each year! :P

I love Lukather!!!

Once is NOT enough.
Pics here and vidclips here.
More details in a separate blog entry soon :)

The search for Toto...and a realization about the music industry

Couple of days ago, I went Toto CD hunting in Makati. Got off the MRT at Ayala Station. Visited SM Makati's record store, and the Astrovision branch they had. Scooted off to Music One Glorietta, then moved on to the record store in Landmark. Made a last stop at Music One Greenbelt. And then made it all the way back to the Ayala MRT Station because that's the same place where the terminal is for BF-bound shuttles. So that's an hour's worth of walking to and browsing through five record stores.

I was looking for any Toto album that was NOT the Best Ballads nor the Essential Toto collection. I already have Best Ballads, and Essential has basically the same songs. I was also looking for their latest studio album, Falling in Between (2006), or their latest release, Falling in Between Live (CD and DVD, 2007).

Anong napala ko?

All I saw were the two albums I WASN'T looking for. But thankfully I did score a VCD of their 25th anniversary gig (Live in Amsterdam 2003), and the commendable record store was SM!

It just sucks, because here I am, a very willing consumer, loaded with Toto-cash, but nobody wants to sell me albums. The record company should've cashed in on this moment; besides, that's what tours are for, to promote their albums.

Hmph.

Anyway, I've watched snippets of the 25th anniv gig, and that didn't help one bit in watering down my anticipation of their Manila gig on April 3.

We're off to the province this weekend though, so I'm bringing the VCD to watch when everyone's sleeping already. Plus I've printed some chords/tabs that I plan to try out during lull times over the weekend ;)

I don't think I've ever been this excited (and well-prepared! or at least trying to be...) for any gig I've gone to before =D

P.S. Signs of the times. I haven't gone to these records stores in ages. Which is why I was shocked to see that Music One Glorietta has been reduced to 1/4 its original size, while Music One Greenbelt is just half of what it used to be. Haaay. Panalo na ba ang mga pirata? Hindi pa naman siguro, diba? =(

P.P.S. Actually I did score something other than the 25th anniv gig. Recently my co-teacher Menggai and I talked about Richard Marx (who's friends with Toto's Steve Lukather). As I was Toto-CD-hunting in SM, I chanced upon Richard Marx CDs. And guess who was just beside Richard? None other than Steve Lukather :) So yeah, I have Luke's latest album, which is awesome. I wish I could score his old CDs as well.

P.P.P.S. (04/08/08) Recently visited SM Megamall and was surprised to see - or NOT SEE - Music One. It was all just Powerbooks where Music One/Tower Records used to be. I don't know if they transferred, or M1 was totally obliterated from Megamall. Odyssey is also now just half of what is used to be.

Gigging around

Well, sorta.

I looove going to gigs, but I hardly can. So the next best thing to attending a gig is organizing one! :D

Yup yup, another Battle of the Bands and Fair Gig gone by. The lineup was great, the gig itself was fun, and the preparations...they were hell as usual. Year in, year out, I stress myself (and my SAMAPI folks) over the Fair Concert. But seeing the kids enjoy themselves so much on gig night itself makes it all worthwhile, especially when I hear of their close encounters of the rockstar kind :)

As usual, wasn't able to take decent pics as I was out and about for most of the night. Will try to post whatever I have soon.

As for the stress-free gigs that I've been to lately, photos have been uploaded to my other Multiply: Julia Fordham at the ATC, UP Fair (Tuesday Night), Maroon 5 at the Araneta

• I'm not really a Julia Fordham fan, but the curious music fan in me always wins. Besides, any gig is a great photo op :D I was late though, so I wasn't able to secure a nice spot to take pics. Was really glad when she sang "Someone to Watch Over Me"; it's one of my favorite songs of all time, especially her version. PICS, VID
  
  
  
  
• The UP Fair was an event I always looked forward to in the later years of my college life. I still like attending the fair now, but it's really a hassle since I have to go home all the way to Paranaque, aside from the fact that I'm tired from work by then. Tuesday was great, though, even if I wasn't able to wait for the main events: Urbandub's 45-minute set with an orchestra, and Sandwich's 10th anniv gig. This year, I went with Sam and her director's chair and her sister Baba and friends. Yup, Sam brought a chair into the fair grounds and actually sat through some performances while most everyone around was on their feet :D Was able to watch some bands I've been wanting to see for a long time: Camerawalls (Clem OnL's new band), Duster (all-girl band: Katwo of Narda, Kris of Cambio/Fatal Posporos, Myrene of Sandwich/Imago, Ristalle), and Peryodiko (Vin Halo's new band). PICS
  
  
  
  
• And of course, there's Maroon 5. Drew and I planned to watch this, but we ran out of tickets (at least in the price range we were willing to spend for). Luckily, my cousin texted the night before the gig that she had tickets, so off we went to watch (Thanks Kai, and Aimee and Jon!) :D All I wanted was to watch an international band, but it turned out that I enjoyed the gig very much.
  Adam Levine was HOT (though Andrew thinks he's gayish). Adam was cute, and he played awesome guitar (I didn't even know he could solo!). And I loved when he counted in Filipino as a segue to "The Sun" :D
  There were moments when he was really basking in the crowd's adoration; "She Will Be Loved" had around a minute of just the crowd screaming at Adam, with the screams intensifying as Adam smiled as a response to the crowd's love.
  I also loved when the band stopped playing "Won't Go Home Without You" and just let the crowd sing the chorus over and over again. The crowd was great, and props, too, to Maroon 5 for being great live performers, not only in terms of musicianship but also in their rapport with the audience. PICS, VID1, VID2
  
  

The UP Fair and the Maroon 5 gigs made me me love Tomi even more. I was situated far from the stage, but the zoom was powerful enough to allow me to take OK pics, and the sound quality in the vidclips was cool, too :)

So there. Til the next gig, I guess...

I am sooo in love right now

Isn't he beautiful? And he's mine...all mine!!! Mwahahahaha! *thunder and lightning*

Thank you Andrew!!! *huuug*

Yup, I have a new camera, and I've christened it Tomi. Andrew helped me purchase it; it's actually his Christmas gift to me.

I've posted some of Tomi's first pics, taken just a few hours after we bought him. More pics to come!!! *jumping*

Field Biology 2007

I realized, waaay into the schoolyear, that I've never blogged about Field Bio yet :D And now, I'm actually too busy to do that, and most of the stuff I was excited to blog about...well, I've forgotten them already, hahaha. Anyway, I'm posting the following slideshow for the incoming Field Bio students. It's a slideshow of selected pictures I took during the summer, as well as a rundown of the activities activities we had and the places we visited. Lots more can be viewed at http://fieldbio2k7.multiply.com.

I guess the one thing I can say about my first Field Bio is that it was hella fun Looking forward to going with Batch 2009 this coming summer...

| View | Upload your own

R.I.P. Lazarus

I guess it was not meant to raise Lazarus from the dead.

Lazarus is my two-year-old Canon Powershot A95. It conked out on me sometime March, which was too bad because I wasn't able to bring it during Field Bio (which reminds me...di pa pala ako nagkukuwento about Field Bio! Hehehe.) Buti nalang may Bio cam back then, so I had a digicam to use during FB.

So there, when it started taking weird pictures last summer, I took it over to Canon, along with Drew's digicam. Buti naman naayos, and for free! Thus I baptized my digicam (after two years in my possession, hehe) Lazarus, because it was back from the dead.

Last September 8, Laz was with me in Antipolo for my friend Karen's wedding. The night went well (super late nga lang kami ni Andrew - damn faraway Antipolo weddings!), and Laz was still able to take around 40 pics. Then all of a sudden, di na bumubukas yung shutter

I took Lazarus to Canon once again, and the lady there told me the sad sad news - it would take PhP9110 to buy the part they need to replace, plus an additional PhP1900 for service. Which essentially means Laz is retiring, and since I do not have funds for a new camera, I am now without one. I was so proud and happy pa naman when I first got Lazarus.

Tama si Lod sa sinabi niya, "Eh di wala ka nang life ngayon?"

Haaay, sadness. Last Thursday was the start of the Humanities Festival, and I felt so incomplete because I was simply watching the festivities, and I couldn't take pics.

Extra bad trip pa because there are two big gigs coming up - Elliott's Manila visit, and Sugarfree's gig with the Manila Symphony Orchestra. I guess I'll just have to borrow my dad's or Andrew's digicam first.

Oh well. Happy birthday to me.

P.S. Salamat nga pala sa lahat ng bumati sa text, sa Multiply (though the PMs are hard to view now, aren't they?), sa Friendster, sa YM, sa personal :) Thank you all for remembering!

07/08/07 Pisay Basketball: 98 vs 08

Drew up against Jhunel.

Team Captain Don vs Lee, Noah, and Hans.

Batch '08. Happy birthday Patacs! :)

Batch '98. Mukha nang mga tatay kumpara sa kalaban nila. Peeeeeace :P

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'08 guy to '98 guy: "Nice game po!"

:D

More kwento and pics here.

Mega-update, for those who care

What a summer.

And it isn't over yet - it can't be! I still have so much stuff to do...

A few posts back, I listed down what was up with my summer - BIOTA, Field Bio, Intel.

Biota went well, I was able to deliver the seminar-workshop without much hassle - never mind there were a couple of important stuff I forgot hehehe.

Field bio was a blast! I haven't really blogged about it yet, so in the meantime let the pictures speak for themselves - http://fieldbio2k7.multiply.com/photos

As for the Intel thing, my co-teacher Edgar (who is now with our unit - welcome to Bio!!!) and I will be evaluating the program so the school would know if it can be held for the faculty on a bigger scale later on. Kami lang ni Edgar na-assign dun, kasi ang buong Bio (well, most of them) are currently in Iloilo for GLOBE training. I wanted to join them, but our house is maid-less so I have to be around to help out. Also, puno na rin slots for the training, haha. Bad trip lang kasi magbo-Boracay sila after! Grrr!!! *Inggit*

Aside from Edgar, we also have two new additions to the Bio unit - welcome Ma'am Dawn Toledo (Pisay '97) and Sir Justin Guce (an orgmate of mine from UP)! The Bio unit will also be saying goodbye to Ma'am Chu Duallo (kasabay kong pumasok sa Pisay), and also temporarily to Ma'am Ninna Espiritu (off to make herself smarter still - study leave).

So with about two weeks to go 'til work officially starts again, I'm still pretty busy.

I'm not yet cleared :( Have a couple more reports and a portfolio to finish for clearance. Grrr again.

Also working on some review material for the in-school UPCAT review for the seniors. And still some miscellaneous stuff to keep me busy. Yehey.

Online, I've also been quite busy uploading pics at my Multiply. Mostly pics of stuff that has kept my sked tight right after Field Bio ended - Ei and Chippy's wedding, Chu and Joel's despidida, Mom's Day.

Wrote a post on Ei and Chippy's wedding already, will post that right after I publish this one. Kwento about the despidida and Mom's Day are right there already in their respective photo albums:


Ei and Chippy's wedding


Chu and Joel's despidida


Mom's Day

Other new albums are:


Bio1 dissection for SY 2006-2007


Batch '07's grad

So far got nothing to post about one of the loves of my life - music. Haven't gigged in so long =( Anyway, summer's been fun (field bio rocks!) so it's alright =)

If a picture paints a thousand words, then what do a thousand pictures paint?

Had a MAJOR Multiply update over the past week. Ngayon lang kasi nagka-oras, heehee. They're all here - http://elenadacs.multiply.com.

Click on the pics to see the rest of the album.

New addition to my "Signs" album

New addition to my "Sights" album

New addition to my "Ilang-Ilang '07" album

My desktop wallpapers

Finally, a "Dacs and Drew" (and Basti, hahaha!) album :D

Some random Bio1 shots

Dahlia '09 pics

New addition to my "Botika ni Lola" album

YMSAT Week: Survival of the Fittest: The Biology 1 Quiz Contest

YMSAT Week: CARE's Junk Art

YMSAT Week: Homeroom Cleanup

YMSAT Week: 2nd Year Integrated Project

Humanities Week: Art 2 Fashion Show

Humanities Week: ACLE RockEd

Humanities Week: 4th Year Sayaw Interpretasyon

Humanities Week: 2nd Year Talking Tableau

Humanities Week: Behind the Scenes of Dahlia's Talking Tableau

Other Humanities Week shots

Milenyo pics

Nasaan ang bagyo?! Nasaaan?!!!

Long weekend? Long post!

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What sucks about yesterday's suspension of classes (eh wala namang bagyo pa!):

1. Dahlia and Jasmin didn't get to take their Long Test # 2. That's bad? Yes, for me it is. Kasi dapat LT nung Thu, no classes sa Fri, tapos last lesson sa Mon, kasi perio starts Tue. Now what?

2. I found out about the suspension as I got off the MRT at the Ayala Station. Bad trip, kasi had I known I'd have a 4-day weekend, I would've brought home stuff to check and stuff to do! Currently on my table are test papers and other stuff I could've brought home to finish. Grrr.

What's OK about yesterday's suspension of classes, or what's OK about the storm not hitting Manila yet as of last night:

1. Hindi binagyo ang Sugarfree album launch. Though hindi naman talaga ako pupunta, at least natuloy yung event w/o the hassle of bad weather.

2. At least the kids have time to do all the requirements they need to finish before the onset of perio on Dec 5. Good luck folks! Please try your best not to cram anymore projects or exams. Make the best use of this 4-day weekend!

3. I got to sleep in the whole day! Hehehe.

4. I got to upload gig pics and vids. Check em out!

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From the LOKOMOTIV gig at AL'S Bar/Rock Radio in BF Paranaque (11/25/06):
Southern Grass jamming - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZNYLP56unQU
Lokomotiv's Five Alive - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t0UcujrNlSY
Lokomotiv's Heart in Two - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zKt308CNgwo
PICS - http://mightydacs98.multiply.com/photos/album/56

Ang galing ng Lokomotiv. I really missed watching Wolf and David play. Pero at least kung States-based na sila, a bigger audience will get to experience their rocking performances.

The American guys - Ryan the vocalist, who's from Oklahoma, and Danny the bassist, who's from California (tama ba?) - were terrific. Ang solid nung Lokomotiv as a band. And they're really nice! Nagpa-autograph ako nung CD inlay - something I haven't done in years, I think. I was (yet again) a giddy highschool kid na na-starstruck sa mga band folks. My hand was actually shaking as I let Ryan and the band sign, hahaha =) But yeah, they were really nice; kita mo sa pakikitungo nila that they like meeting the fans.

Tapos nakakatuwa pa kasi si Dino (I hope I remembered his name right) who was Wolfgang's roadie back then was also with Lokomotiv that night. Tinuro pa niya sa akin sino pa yung ipapasign sa CD (kala niya siguro di ko makikilala yung band members hehe).

The night was surreal. Couldn't believe I was in the same room w/ David Aguirre, hehehe. That guy is a truly awesome guitar player.

Oh, btw, front acts Kinkyhooters and Southern Grass were also great! Gotta watch out for their albums, sana ilabas na soon.

Too bad Drew and I couldn't stay for DRT anymore. 11pm na kasi nagsimula yung gig, tapos halos 1-hour sets yung bands. So as Lokomotiv wrapped up at 2am, I definitely needed to go back home (nahiritan pa nga ako the next day kasi late na raw ako umuwi, pffft). Eh balita ko nag-Razorback reunion pa raw after DRT. Grrr, sayang! Razorback w/ David Aguirre! Hmph.

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I've also finished uploading pics and vids from the Admit One 5th Anniv Party Part 2:
Fatal Posporos' Pudgy: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OoxbKO0NQFE
Fatal Posporos' Sili Song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e80dls4LFgQ
Twisted Halo's Hiram: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=01ls-RbgjRI
Twisted Halo's Undress: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MrnV0Y2WfEA
PICS - http://mightydacs98.multiply.com/photos/album/55

This was yet another Admit One party for the record. Ang saya-saya seeing the orig lineup, though hindi ko na naabutan yung Cambio and Dicta License. Last time I saw Fatal play plugged was in 2003 or 2004 pa ata, nung buhay pa yung dating Rock Radio Cafe. So I was really really happy to watch them again. Too bad wala si Annette; Abe Billano took over drum duties instead.

And, of course, Twisted Halo. Nag-usap kami ni Vin after their set, and he expressed his happiness in what their set turned out to be. Ang ganda kasi ng tugtugan nila. I couldn't pinpoint what was different about it, basta pakiramdam ko it wasn't the usual Twisted Halo set. Even Jal's basslines (yup, Jal played 2 songs!) were different. Kumbaga, para silang ganadong-ganado tumugtog.

At siyempre, hindi ko na pinalampas yung pagkakataong i-record yung "Undress". Since it will forever remain an unreleased Twisted Halo track, getting it on video was the next best thing. Ilang beses ko na pinanood yung nirecord ko, and I still can't get enough of it.

What surprised me, though, was what Vin said. Sabi niya, playing that set made him realize na tama yung ginawa niyang pag-alis sa banda (and the band breakup that followed). They've had their time na rin daw kasi. Tama na yun. And, that night, seeing and hearing the crowd sing along to almost all the songs, natuwa siya, slightly regretting na bakit hindi ganun yung reaction nung crowd dati (well, at least that's how I interpreted what he was saying), pero bottomline is that he was really satisfied sa tugtog nila nung gabing yun.

Ako naman, sabi ko, kahit man lang sa Admit One anniv nalang sila tutugtog, maghihintay ako taon-taon. Hehehe.

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And some other stuff I was able to upload to Multiply:

Maligayang Pasko - Some alternative Christmas songs to listen to: http://mightydacs98.multiply.com/music/item/23

Datu's Tribe Kwentuhan Session vids, w/c have long been posted on YouTube na rin:
Karne: http://mightydacs98.multiply.com/video/item/12
Lakambini Bottom: http://mightydacs98.multiply.com/video/item/13

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O ano? Nasaan na yung bagyo? Sana makadaan na siya by this morning, because I want to attend the Rock Awards tonight!!! Pleeease!!! (Pero sana hindi naman malakas yung tama ng bagyo, para hindi rin makadulot ng matinding pinsala sa atin. Masyado na kasi tayong kinakawawa ng tadhana.)

Me and my girls and Coco

I love my friends. We keep each other sane and crazy at the same time. We have fun hanging out even if our gimiks have become few and far between. And, of course, we're all camwhores. And I, being the designated photographer, enjoy that a lot :P


Breakfast with Manny at McDo Tagaytay


The way to the beach


Tsalap!


The ultimate beach house


Photoshoot mode ON


Gets? :D


These houses are friggin' beautiful!


Parting shot
Coco: Check out my butt!
Sam: No, check out *my* butt!
Dacs: Ok, I'll check out your butt
Doggie: Weirdos...


Oh, and I love being a grown-up, too. Mas pinapayagan nako sa out-of-town gimiks ngayon. Hehe, tanda ko na pero ngayon lang nakakalakwatsa ng ganito. Feeling ko mas pinapayagan pa mga estudyante ko eh :D

Click if you care to see more of our faces (you must be really bored or sumthin...)