Destination Unknown

Christmas on Manila sucks.

I mean it!

This is why I don’t remember spending the last few Christmas on this city,
ever.

In 2002, I spent my Christmas on Bacolod, and it was the first and, thus far
the only time, I’ve attended my High School Reunion. In 2003, I went to Bacolod
again to give my uncle a tour to
this lovable city. And I’ve met with many of my high school friends too, even if I missed
the annual reunion. Then in 2004, I went to Taiwan so my brother won’t feel too
lonely about spending a Christmas on a country that gives too little value to
this occasion. On 2005, I was on Bacolod again, but words couldn’t even
describe how awesome that was.

And where am I spending this year’s Christmas Eve? Why, I’m spending it on my house, listening to Bing Crosby and
updating my blog. I don’t actually detest both, but why do I have to be in
Manila of all places? If only my office has permitted me to take a week off, then I could’ve been elsewhere! Even though it’s already the holiday season,
this city just don’t want to release me from its oppressive grasp!

Frankly, I’m sick of
Manila. It’s not that I don’t love my home; it’s that I’m sick of my
surroundings. If I ever get to tell the rural people from this country that I
live on these parts, they’d always react with a “Wow! Isn’t that a rather risky
place?” I could only mentally note an affirmation, because it’s risky in many
ways. People may think Manila is risky because it’s got traffics, it’s got lot
of thieves and it’s got lot of dirty politicians (all of which are true). They
forgot one thing: it’s risky for one’s sanity, especially due to its monotony.

Like all of this city’s
inhabitants (although I sometimes question the adults’ honesty to this), all of
us want to have fun. And indeed there’s fun that’s expected to be had on the
country’s capital, what with it being the center of most events. So tell me, if
Manila is supposed to entertain, why is every “entertainment center” a freaking
mall, a freaking “gimmicks” bar, a freaking coffee shop with horrible saxophone
music, a freaking restaurant with bills that could blow a hole on a Louis
Voitton wallet, and a freaking parking lot with lots of peddlers (like
Greenhills)? Sure, it may be where different kinds of products are most easily
found, but when spending money buying stuff have become tiresome, one becomes
tempted to ask, “Is that all?” Where’s the park? Where’s the museum? Where’s
the cultural center? Where’s the library? Where’s the amusement park? Where’s
the independent film theater? Where’s the educational center? Where’s the
playground that’s actually worthwhile? Where’s the place embraced with Mother
Nature’s best? Where’s the variety? Where’s the “nature’s escape”? Where’s the
recreational area that’s everything else than a mall – which is essentially
more like a bad compilation album (Now That’s What I Call Music,
anyone)? Sure, they do exist, but they’re as easy to reach as inserting your
hand on a bottle of Coke, as empty as the noisiest egotist, and have as few
audiences as the number of passenger from North Korea’s subway.

If you don’t get it by
now, let me be blatant: I’m sick of all the malls. Enough is enough! Even New
York doesn’t have this many – after all they know how to preserve culture by
promoting museums. And they have Central Park. To me, malls are useful in that
you can get most of everything on a single place. It’s not just a department
store where it only keeps the most basic of all necessities. It’s a place with
department stores plus all the independent stores each selling different
products and services. So a mall is basically like a spring roll where lots of
different ingredients get wrapped so that you can consume them all at once. But
I don’t ALWAYS want that, not the least on Christmas day! Moreover, it’s
tiresome to see behemoths after behemoths of buildings packing up all sorts of
places on this city. Meanwhile, “family time” becomes devolved into simply an
alibi for spending lots of money. It’s no longer about going to the park
together simply because, well, the parks are either gone or pathetic beyond all
imagining. It’s no longer about going out for outdoor exercise. It has
simply devolved into spending lots of money on another one of Henry Sy’s or
Gokongwei’s or Gotesco’s or Ayala’s establishments! Call me an environmentalist
prude, but all these infrastructures taking up spaces where trees could’ve been
planted has done nothing but consume the fresh air that could’ve been
comforting to human lungs. Sure, this is the urban, after all, but there’s got
to be a limit! I really wouldn’t mind seeing more of nature’s green and blue
instead of some gray shades of blah that’s too prevalent with Manila these
days.

With no choice but to
spend my Christmas on this place, it is depressing to learn that I have yet to
go to another mall and pretend to feel the warmth of yuletide. Instead, I went
home feeling like a scrooge. I guess to some people these kinds of places are
the most spectacular, but not for me. When you think about it, their activities
are just limited to spending ad infinitum, not much about the actual
experiences of playing or sweating or adventuring or breathing. In other words,
they’re far too trivial when you compare them to all other places that could be
used for entertainment.

That’s why, I think
this Christmas sucked because I have to spend it on trifles.

Note: This entry is written on December 24, but due to internet downtime, I could only post it today.

Hah! I have risen from grave! And now you will continue to suffer from my endless streams of vitriols! Behold!

Just kidding. Admittedly, I’ve not updated my blog for quite some time due to a number of reasons:

1. This month has been quite anticlimactic. Practically nothing exciting ever happened, and I don’t imagine it will change anytime soon. In fact, I guess this year’s Christmas will probably be one of the most boring I’ve ever had (in stark contrast to last year’s).
2. I got quite sick of the internet. Really. My real-life work involves being seated in front of a computer 8 hours a day, and even that’s a little too much for me. Plus, in some of the internet community I participate in, some internet stinkers found the chance to quarrel with me. I don’t imagine I end up being the winner (who cares) of any of those disputes, but it was tiresome and tedious and, ultimately, a waste of time anyway.
3. I got quite sick in real life too. I mean, physically sick. Few days ago, I had to call sick from work because some bunnies wanted to jump inside my stomach. And then few days after that, the bunnies decided to jump on my head. And after they have left, I could feel their warmth still residing over my body, therefore giving me a fever. (Btw, the bunnies were purely metaphorical)

So there, that’s my reason for hibernating. I think it’s about time I update my blog again, but while we wait for that, I’d like to greet you all a Merry Christmas. I’ll save the New Year’s Greeting for my next update.

I’m one of the few people who have a love it, hate it relationship with the month of December. I love it, because that’s the month that I and, as some would argue, the Lord Jesus were born. I hate it, because it’s when I get to spend the most. The most annoying incident of this may come in the form of mandatory gift exchanges, thanks in no small parts to whatever organization I’m active in.

In this case, it’s for my company. After work, I went straight to the most convenient mall, which is The Podium. Yeah, I know, it’s not the best place to be shopping with a P300 budget. It’s a place more suited for people who can buy a Gucci bag without flinching. I’m not in that target demographic, so please don’t ask why I decided to go to The Podium, as I’m still trying to figure it out myself.

By coincidence, today happens to be the album launch of a newcomer, Noelle Cassandra. And, being that I have much spare time on my hands - which is something of a curse common among corporate drones lost in quarterlife crisis confusion -  I decided to listen the concert all the way through. And why not? After all, I might be able to discover a new artist to admire (this is how I found out about Sugarfree, by the way. And yes, that was way before they were trendy).

Who is Noelle Cassandra? Well, I didn’t know either. But, there was a concept that caught my attention. You see, unlike bajillions of other divas these days, Noelle Cassandra also plays the harp.  She actually went through some classical training and took a music degree on University of British Columbia.

Her concert (or performace, whichever way you want to call it) was fairly concise. She played five songs, namely At Home With You, My Strength, You and I, Pasko Na Sinta Ko, and You’re the One I Need. Three of those selections are her originals.

And she can sing well, but unfortunately, I don’t know who I can compare her voice to, being that I have limited knowledge for the pop scene (as most of my loyal readers would’ve gathered by now, I’m a lot more knowledgeable in Jazz). Needless to say, it’s the voice that’s perfectly suited for adult pop, and even torch songs.

The songs she’s selected for the concert are pretty great, too. My Strength is the strongest (pun intended) selection. And the harp is, quite simply, enchanting. When the host said it’s a taste of Heaven and Earth, he wasn’t kidding. I would say, Harp is simply heaven-on-a-string, which is probably why it’s one of the instruments so commonly associated with angels (trumpet being the other, though I can’t imagine any angels doing Miles Davis compositions and playing some Bitches Brew). Indeed the harp enhanced the music aplenty, and it’s also what sets Noelle apart from the deluge of divas, some of which are tone-deaf Starstruck dropouts.

Overall, I did have a good time. It’s hardly the most memorable concert I’ve ever attended - I would hand that distinction to, again, Sugarfree’s - but then again, what’s there was quite impressive. I ended up buying her album and, along with the free poster, I got it autographed.

A little after work shopping may not be so bad, after all. Now if only I can find a decent P300 gift on The Podium….

Here’s another food for thought:

The best thing about children, is that they squabble today, then forgive each other tomorrow. Upon being
adults, I find that people hardly "let things slide" anymore.

In
my humble opinion, I think if one never learns to forgive, then one
hasn’t learned anything at all. So don’t go claiming that you have ever
"reached maturity" if you never learn how to forgive others.

I’ll try to make this short. I’m not going to bother posting a long-winded introduction about Coffee and Bossa. If you don’t know what it is, you can head to the nearest records store to find a copy. They’re everywhere. Let me just summarize it in a few sentences.

Coffee and Bossa is one of the latest Bossa Nova compilation albums. While they’re locally made, the artists chosen for the compilation are the international, famed ones. And so far, out of the three that’s been released so far, each Coffee and Bossa focuses solely on ONE artist.

Now we’ve got that out of the way, let me state my purpose of this entry. After having spent some time with all three Coffee and Bossa albums, I’m going to give you an overview. Consider this a brief summary of what to expect if you ever decide to plunge your cash on getting at least one copy. I’m going to try making this as short as possible too.

The Chillout Sound of Astrud Gilberto
This is actually the first that has been released. Of course, what with many Divas getting into Bossa, it is appropriate enough to release Astrud Gilberto album that’s easy to reach (by the way, all Coffee and Bossa are relatively cheap), so that anyone who’s interested can revisit the Bossa Nova roots. While I do not necessarily agree that Astrud is the best reference for Bossa Nova music (I’d rather hand that distinction to Joao Gilberto), she is in fact primordial to this genre’s development.

So why don’t I think Astrud as the best reference? Unique as she may sound, there’s no hiding the fact that she’s received no prior musical training before her FIRST record, which was actually The Girl from Ipanema and Corcovado, both of which are made for Stan Getz and Joao Gilberto’s Getz/Gilberto album. Since then, she’s became one of the most popular artists of that time. But even then, when she had gone solo, she was facing many problems, especially with regards to coping with her limited vocal range. Eventually, she was able to, by creatively using her inimitable voice, create materials that sanction her among one of the Jazz pantheons. But there was a time when she sounded like a newbie karaoke singer. A successful Astrud Gilberto compilation has to try as much as possible to hide that.

There’s no doubt that this album is meant to be relaxing, and it succeeds very much at that. Especially great are Astrud’s songs from Getz Au Go Go, where she sings with Stan Getz on sax (and, Kenny Burrell on guitar!). However, I don’t think all the included songs are necessary. For one, there needn’t be 2 Girl from Ipanema’s, especially since in the LIVE version, Astrud Gilberto sounded so unenthused. The other Girl from Ipanema was also a questionable decision: why did they choose the version where Joao Gilberto is out of the music? Once I Loved isn’t any better. At the beginning of the song, I can clearly hear Astrud’s voice breaking, unable to sustain a high pitch for long. This kind of missteps do not happen often with all the other tracks of the album, but as a compilation, I had hoped that it would be perfect, where a couple of "meh" performances could have been excluded. Score: 3.5 out of 5

The Chillout Sound of Antonio Carlos Jobim
Next in line is, to no one’s surprise, Antonio Carlos Jobim. One can never overstate just how important Jobim is to the entire genre. He’s not only the father, but also the greatest composer, of Bossa Nova. So naturally, a compilation has to follow suit in keeping with Coffee and Bossa’s intent, which I guess is "to offer quality Bossa Nova music for an affordable price".

Unlike Astrud (this isn’t to undermine Astrud), Jobim had more musical trainings. He played the piano and the guitar, and he also sang. A man that doesn’t lack talent, Coffee and Bossa: Antonio Carlos Jobim holds promises to be even grander than Astrud’s.

Unfortunately, that’s not the case. Again, I question much of the track selections. Why on earth did the compliation have to include many of the songs from Getz/Gilberto? It’s kind of pointless because: 1. Any self-respecting Bossa Nova aficionados must have Getz/Gilberto; and 2. Jobim only provides the background for much of the songs in that album. It may be his composition, but I still think it’s pretty silly to be included in an album that should’ve focused solely on Jobim. Also, should Coffee and Bossa ever decides to release a Joao Gilberto compilation (which isn’t very unlikely), wouldn’t that mean that there would be overlaps?

Additionally, what’s the point of including two Waters of March, one of which has Elis Regina laughing around near the end of the track? I don’t think it’s very becoming of a compilation album to include TWO same tracks under different renditions. Then there’s Tide, which is Wave (also included) reversed and recycled. What’s the point of that?

With this many flaws (yes, those are more songs that in Astrud’s), I’m not sure I can recommend this particular compilation. All I can say is that you can only find much use to this compilation if you have not been an avid Antonio Carlos Jobim collector. I would recommend that you be a Jobim collector instead. Score: 3 out of 5

The Chillout Sound oF Flora Purim
I’m much delighted at their decision to compile Flora Purim’s works. After all, she’s nearly forgotten among the casual listeners community. I first heard of her in Light as a Feather, and thought Flora’s voice is one of the most flexible there ever is. Boasting a range of six octaves, when Flora’s voice gets high, it’s just simply, crystal-shattering, unbelievable.

While I’m aware that Flora Purim is also from Brazil, I’m not sure if she should be classified as Bossa Nova. She’s, after all, married to Airto Moreira, one of Brazilian fusion prime movers, and she’s been doing many gigs with her husband. So to be exact, most of her songs are more rock-ish or funky-ish than samba-ish.

Which is why I would say that even though her selections in the compilation are mostly great, some Bossa Nova compilations need not be included. To put these songs to strain that Flora’s a Bossa Artist was kind of unneccessary. And really, does all Coffee and Bossa need to have a Dindi? What for?

All said and done, Flora’s compilation is the best among the three, simply because it’s rather uncommon to find her other compilations, much unlike the remaining two. Exclude 3 subpar Bossa Nova songs, and you have a near-perfect compilation. Score: 4 out of 5

Final Words: The scores are made only to reflect my personal opinion for all of the compilations. All three of them are, in their own ways, worth checking, especially if you want to give the career of the featured artists an overview.

There’s a habit among parents that I’ve always detested. I call it "children comparison". It’s a situation when the dad and mom keep bragging about their child’s achievement in front of other parents.

I detest children comparison because I see no other motives of such
thing other than to incite jealousy. For one, I myself have been victim
of being scolded because I didn’t live up to the standards set by that
kid next door (figuratively). Well, duh, what if I choose to live a
different life to that "outstanding" kid? What if I’m not interested in
accounting but are more inclined about writing? I don’t believe that
children need to be confined by letting society decides what’s
a worthy life for them. I think children have every right to decide on
that as they grow up. I’m a firm believer in individuality. No amount
of traditionalist condescension and child comparison will prove
otherwise.

Now I know it’s part of human nature to be genuinely proud of the merits of the people they care about, and I can’t fault parents for feeling this way about their children. However, there has got to be a line. Some parents speak of their children’s great many abilities only when people asked. Other’s, like this one mom I met yesterday, are so unabashedly forward.

Yesterday, I was on community service. There was this mom who constantly interrupts what I’m doing for what purpose, I’m not really so sure of. She engaged me in a conversation about what kind of advice I can give about her animosity with her husband (I don’t have any advices for this), then proceeded to indulge in bragging about her wealth and how her children  ceaselessly provides that for her.

Now I’m all for listening to other people’s stories, but I’m only interested in true stories. This mom is, clearly, delusional. During the first 2 minutes, her conversation at least sounded credible. But, she proceeded to make so many preposterous claims about how all her children are UP grads and valedictorian (idiot alarm: UP grads can’t be valedictorians) at the same time. Then she would proceed to say that one of them’s an airplane pilot. Much that I respect a pilot, I don’t recall having ever heard of pilot needing a 4-year UP degree.

Another thing that bothers me is her claim that her daughter is currently taking up nursing. Now there’s also a lot of inconsistency with this info. Imagine being a UP "valedictorian". Would you even choose to suffer taking another 2 year nursing course? My impression is that UP achievers have dug golds the first second they leave the campus with their diploma. At least in the Philippines, anyone fitting that category would’ve already been affluent in probably less than 30 days. Why would anyone affluent still want to take a 2-year nursing course?

And then she also tells me that a lot of guys are attracted to her
daughter and wondered if I wanted to marry one of them (what?!). She even showed me their pictures, where I had no choice but to politely agree about them being beautiful. When I say politely agree, I meant agreeing while trying, as much as possible, to hide the "I don’t dig her" tone with my acquiesced "She’s pretty" rejoinder. By the way, anyone who’s been with me knows that when I dig a girl, I never say "she’s pretty". I usually exclaim "she’s hot!" In fairness, her daughters (granted if they really are her daughters) aren’t exactly ugly, but not exactly edible either. But that’s beside the point. The greater issue is this: I don’t want this mom as my mother-in-law. And if what she said about her husband is also the truth, I don’t want mothers-in-law and fathers-in-law who aren’t in good terms with each other.

Amazingly, that’s not the end of it all! After digressing so many times, that mom actually told me her chidren’s IQ (wondering why I should care). She said her eldest son has an IQ of 99.5. I pretended to be ignorant - as they say, playing dumb may debunk false theories and reveal infinite knowledges -  and questioned the mom about what IQ 99.5 means. She said 99.5 is "nearing genius". Hah! She has no idea! What would that have made me then, Marilyn vos Savant?  And IQ don’t use decimal numbers. Hiding my snarky sneer, that mom told me afterwards that the same kid got a 99.5 in NCE. She kind of isn’t considering that she might be talking to someone who scored higher than that. I (among a lot of OTHER classmates) scored 99.8, and I don’t give a damn. I have tossed the scoresheet in the basement 7 years ago.

Have 99.5 become a favorite number these days? Maybe that’s what reflects that mom’s IQ. It actually is "almost normal". And geez, I really don’t care about the IQ of the people I hang around with (and it’s not something I overtly ask from my acquaintances or even my close friends), but since she’s bought this unto herself, I have nothing much to say other than "stop bragging. It’s pretty retarded!"

Man, why do I get to meet so many weirdos anyway?

I was listening to Dizzy Gillespie’s Bahiana a while
before writing this review (which isn’t about this album, in case you wonder if
the title was a typo). While AMG only gave it a 4/5, Rolling Stones’ opinion of
it was far more favorable (hint: Rolling Stones don’t use decimal numbers).
Nonetheless, they both concur that Dizzy Gillespie knows what Brazilian music
is all about. Despite being classified under Bossa Nova, all of Bahiana’s
works are originals. On top of that, there weren’t any abused techniques
and predictable rhythm patterns. The instruments are anything but clichéd -
these days how often do you hear of Bossa Nova songs that actually use flute
and trumpet, either unabated or muted? The end product sounded so fresh that it
not only would make Jobim, but also Brazilian fusion movement forefronts,
smile. With few hints to Jobim, Bitches Brew Miles Davis and Return to
Forever, Bahiana sounds nowhere like the predictable Bossa Nova songs
that have been inundating the radios and records store these days. In fact, Bahiana
actually sounded like a progress, despite being a 30-year-old one.

To be honest, Bahiana startled me. Not merely because
it was a fantastic, albeit underexposed, work, but also because it momentarily
cast my hope for Bossa Nova under a new (positive) light. I was completely
weary of Bossa Nova before I delve into this album. During my listen to Bahiana,
I felt that Bossa Nova was actually communicating something: that care has
actually been taken to develop music under this genre. I actually felt that
Bossa Nova doesn’t use set (tired) conventions to make their songs sound akin
to powdered juice drink, where I just add water and they’re ready to serve.

But allow me to look at my wrist as we review another local
Bossa Nova album. Time check: reality.

Anyone who has been making rounds to the local records
stores these days will probably see, even from afar, a whole section where CD’s
with fashion-magazine-like casing get piled. Ignorant people might assume these
to be the newest Hed Kandi, but anyone who is updated knows that they’re just
another batch of "new" Bossa Nova oeuvres. Now if you look closely, you’ll see
pictures of a girl that looks straight ahead, not at he. At Brazil, that
would’ve been the proverbial Ipaneman babe, but on our local shores, that’s
Raffi Quijano.

Few things first: does every local Bossa Nova artists also
need to have an exotic name? Sitti isn’t exactly common in National Statistics
Office (where printing a birth certificate costs $5. Joy). The same holds true
to Agot, and now, Raffi. What makes Raffi Quijano an unintentionally funny name
is how both her first and surname have as much syllabications with Sitti
Navarro’s. They even rhyme. Now I know names may not be a matter of personal
choice/preference, but I’d be damned if, in terms of popularity, that won’t
make Raffi be obscured under Sitti’s shadow. Trying the same genre doesn’t help
either. After all, Sitti came first!

Anyone who’s followed my reviews so far knows that my
biggest issue with recent Bossa Nova songs is their lack of creativity.
This applies in both cases of either reviving Bossa Nova standards or, in a
term I use to denote converting a song to this genre, "Bossanizing" other
genre-favorites. Instead of innovating, the artists are so content on resting
on Jobim’s laurels - which, by the way, isn’t theirs - opting to create music
in exactly his same formula without even actually understanding how it is used.
So when I heard that Manila Blend is just a collection of Raffi "Bossanizing" Original
Philippines Music, I thought "Wow, Awesome". Sardonically.

Consisting of songs that mostly speak of hopeless romance,
Manila Blend would quickly receive condemnation from those who enjoy cryptic
and angsty lyrics (they’re what seem to be so popular these days, what with
Hale polluting the airwaves). Many part of the lyrics made me blush at how
embarrassingly cheesy they are.

So what do you know? I’m only human, and Manila Blend
turned out to be a guilty pleasure! Pick yourself up from the floor; I didn’t
expect that you’d fall off from your seat.

How did that happen? For one, I really liked the
arrangements. One of the instruments that have become severely underutilized,
not only for Bossa Nova, but also for other OPM in general, is the piano. When
was the last time anyone’s attended any gig that had such behemoth enhancing
the music? Speaking as someone who’s had personal experiences with piano, I can
say that it’s definitely one of the best instruments ever made. Why? Because it
serves many purpose. It can be the bass, be the rhythmic section, be the
harmonic section, or be ALL at the same time. So when I heard piano in the
Manila Blend’s carrier track Friend of Mine, I thought it made big difference
to the typical Pinoy Bossa Nova. That’s why I ended up liking that song.

Unfortunately, the presence of piano would remain few in the
remaining of the albums. But even then, I still admit to liking many of the
songs. It would be remiss if I don’t commend the remaining instruments used for
this album. In a stark contrast to Raffi Quijano’s usually subdued voice, the
guitars and the drums are loud and lively, very effectively supplying a happy
atmosphere. Also, many of the songs covered here are supposed to be for acoustic
music, and truthfully, acoustic music isn’t far and different to Bossa Nova. So
in actuality, the conversion doesn’t take much effort. Call it a clever ploy,
but in this case I think it actually works.

And yet, many factors bog down the album. The English tracks
sound a lot more natural than the Filipino ones. Being that the latter are
mostly sentimental, something doesn’t sound quite right about trying to get all
sad and pensive while hearing that rhythmical "puck" made from tapping the
sides of a drum. The mood doesn’t gel together very nicely. Bossa Nova is,
after all, patterned after West Coast, Cool Jazz.

But by far, Manila Blend’s most disappointing aspect
is how it doesn’t sound so fundamentally different from her peers (Sitti, Agot,
etc.). Sure, some of the arrangements are better, and the piano is much
appreciated, but overall it still employs the same formula that, only in half a
year, is already tired. While I appreciate the baby-steps kind of progression
made for Manila Blend, I have to ask: how much longer will casual listeners put up with this kind of sameness? Isn’t it about time to create a
new approach to Bossa Nova music? It might not hurt to change the rhythms too:
that constant "puck" can be put to rest. It’s starting to grate on my ears.

Once again, I say that Raffi Quijano’s Manila Blend is
worthy of listen. I ended up liking it in spite of myself. On the other hand, I
think it’s about time the artists take cue from the Bahiana example, and
actually try to make their songs original and different from Jobim. After all,
the audience could use a little bit of variety.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5