Dan and I are certified coffee addicts. Coffee actually brought us together! We’d usually brew our coffee at work using our own coffee press since there is no coffee maker there. We are very particular about the taste of our coffee. We’ve shared different coffee beans and discovered our personal favorites. Sometimes though, our workload does not permit us to brew our coffee. There are also times when we’re lazy to brew because it is really tedious. Whenever that happens, we’d just grab a cup from the vendo which is a very far cry from brewed coffee.
Last Wednesday, I happened to swing by Starbucks Convergys after my dentist appointment. They had a new addition to their coffee family. They just launched their Starbucks VIA™-Ready-Brew. It is their version of instant coffee. They say it tastes very much like brewed coffee. You just have to add water for black coffee or add a little cream or sugar if that’s how you want your coffee.
They had this taste test near the counter when I went there. They asked me to guess which cup was brewed and which cup was made using VIA™-Ready-Brew. There’s actually a distinct taste in brewed coffee that you can’t miss. So, yeah, I knew which cup was brewed and which was instant. I still bought a couple of sticks though. I’d have to admit that if laziness kicks in, I’d still prefer Starbucks VIA™-Ready-Brew over vendo coffee.
Too much has been said. All leads to the idea that no one wanted what happened last August 23, 2010. Still there are points that need to be reiterated over and over again.
ONE. Please stop blaming the police alone. The fact that they were there to gamble their lives is brave enough. They were there in their uniforms because they have the passion to serve and defend the people who need them. Their lack of proper equipment and training is what brought them down. They were not born with all the skills of being a policeman. They need to be trained. They need proper equipment. Sadly, our government failed to provide our cops sufficient training and equipment. And the media, ever so powerful, stirred up the heat.
TWO. Don’t speak as if the hostage-taker represents the Philippines. We are known for our hospitality and forever we shall hold such value. I strongly believe the hostage-taker himself didn’t plan everything that happened after sunset. He was just driven by his mind, operated by confusion and desperation. The authorities could have handled this situation using more logic and less violence.
THREE. To my countrymen: FOR THE LOVE OF GOD! Stop posting and re-posting the pictures of those teenagers posing like tourists at the crime scene. Same goes to the policemen-playing-online-games images. Do we really think we need a joke right now? We’ve done enough shameful acts for all the world to see. They already know that we are not the brightest people in this planet. Let’s not give them more justification.
FOUR. The note entitled Postscripts to a Blood Bath is a hoax. Again, we can now stop defending our title as THE World’s Most Stupid People because the runners-up are way too far from our lead. This was posted a day after the devastating incident happened. A victim of a bloody hostage-taking will not log on to the internet and type a blog entry right after his traumatic experience. In reality, he will be under the care of the people in-charge because he was traumatized and he needs a lot of rest. Also, I don’t think these people can write English that well. Not that I am judging them or anything.
FIVE. Venus Raj’s answer is the not the best. We obviously expected more. There is a reason why it's called a beauty pageant and not battle of the brains. We can’t blame her if she thinks she is Miss Perfect and she can’t blame us if our lives isn’t as ideal as hers. She is not the only one who failed to deliver a satisfying answer to this question. What matters is that at the end of the day, she’s still number 5 among the most beautiful women in the world and for what it’s worth, she picked up our flag from the dump.
I am just a nobody but I’m pretty sure that the whole country admits we made a mistake and deep inside, we all feel terrible because of what happened. We are sad too and we wish we could all just wake up from this nightmare. I wish an apology could take away all the hurt, especially to the families of those who were killed. Other countries screw up too. I guess this is our time. It is during incidents like this that our country’s esteem is beyond low. This is the kind of situation that we needed to strongly speak those words that we’ve obligated ourselves to shout whenever Pacquiao wins a fight – we are proud to be Filipinos.
When I heard Urbandub’s single “Come” for the first time on the radio, (which was a very long time ago) I never imagined they were local artists. The shock came to me when the song ended, when the DJ then had the usual spiel: “That song was brought to you by (Whatever beer) and that was the song Come from the band from Cebu, Urbandub”. Well up unto this day, five albums and a lot of hit singles after, Urbandub has never since failed to impress me and make me proud to know that they’re from the same country where I come from.
Since then I’ve come to experience the same with a lot of new artists that have emerged in the local music scene through the years. Only proves to show that OPM is in itself world-class. In this post I wouldn’t want to talk about Arnel Pineda and Charice Pempengco or Christian Bautista who’s probably more popular in Indonesia than here in the Philippines; you probably already had much of that from your entertainment news and your boring YouTube afternoons. Rather I would like to share with you some of today’s Pinoy artists that could give you similar experiences of amazement in realizing that they’re actually homegrown. And if some on this list are artists you’ve never heard before – I suggest that you start listening to them now.
The Out of Body Special – The band which can give you almost everything from its fusion of rock, deep funk, soul, R&B, jazz and latin will make you wonder how the hell they’ve managed to actually pull it off not mentioning adding to the formula the band’s front man Carlos Magno’s boastful and legit rhymes. Believe me, I’ve already tried making other people (those who’ve never heard of them before) listen to a few tracks from their 2007 release “Love Is” and then after revealing that they’re from around here: “Talaga??”
The Ambassadors- The punk rock outfit from Cebu could easily be mistaken for an American punk band. I really believe when they say Cebuanos speak better English than people from other parts of the Philippines. And they make some of the best Filipino punk music too!
The Camerawalls – If Orange and Lemons were The Beatles, then Clementine Castro was Lennon. I dunno, I just had to say that. Even though everybody knew who Clem was already even before the formation of The Camerawalls (after Orange and Lemons disbanded), when they released their first single “Clinically Dead for Sixteen Hours”, the reception was not “Oh It is Clem with his new band” but it was like “Oh this is Clem?! I knew he could do way better on his own.” But we need to admit, we all still miss Orange and Lemons.
Outerhope –I found out about Outerhope on facebook, after clicking the “Become a fan” button and then started listening to their songs, which I ultimately enjoyed. The band’s set-up (composed of siblings Mike and Micaela Benedicto) reminded me of Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová in the movie Once, minus the love story and plus more enthusiasm because they’re a breath of fresh air for OPM.
December Avenue- I remember a friend who made me listen to one song of the band on his iPod and remember asking if the band was foreign or not.Listen to the band’s song “Time to Go” and see for yourself. Catchy piece of music, that song is.
Sinosikat?- I think it was the song “Turning My Safety Off” that was the first that I’ve heard from the band a couple of years ago. It reminded me of Jeff Buckley but with a female voice, and that made it more interesting. Sinosikat’s site describes their music as an orgy of jazz, soul, funk, rock, & sexy groovy beats matched with unparalleled skill. I could only copy paste it here, and say that I totally agree.
Urbandub- I don’t think I have to say anything more about the band, since y’all probably heard of them already and could not agree more. Anyway here’s their video for “Come” their first single off their first album release “Birth.”
Franco- If you weren’t born yesterday, then you’ve also probably already heard of Franco and his “superband” (composed of Gabby Alipe, 8 Toleran, Buhawi Meneses and Janjan Mendoza) and their hit single “Castaway”. Franco Reyes actually first wrote and performed this song (along with other songs from their recently locally released debut album) with his Florida based band “Inyo”. After Franco came to the Philippines and having the “superband” to session for some gigs in the metro, it eventually became for keeps. Thank Jah for that.
Up Dharma Down- not only was I amazed to realize that UDD’s a local band the first time I heard “Maybe” from Fragmented, but also felt the same for every release that followed. I hear they’re recording a single to be included in their third release!! But for the meantime.. enjoy this video I took from one of their gigs.. and let’s all patiently wait for their third album. (which is going to rock I tell you)
Drip- Some may think that Electronica music is relatively new in the Philippines, but Drip has been active since 2003. And they could definitely kick some international electronic act arses with their collections of songs courtesy of Arvin "Caliph8" Nogueras on turntables, Ian "Morse" Magbanua on beats and samples and Beng Calma-Alcazaren on vocals.
SPECIAL MENTIONS: Ciudad, Faspitch, Sleepwalk Circus, Daydream Cycle, Tonight We Sleep, Typecast, Taken By Cars, IMBUE NO KUDOS, April Morning Sky, Turbo Goth
I just watched a show by Ateneo's Blue Repertory entitled EDGES: a song cycle. My sister, Pauline Gaerlan, is a part of the cast. It's an hour full of catchy songs about relationships, dreams, and facebook!
Want to know more? Here are the details:
Who Am I? Who Do I Want To Become?
EDGES is not a traditional musical; it is an exciting new show about four bourgeoning adults asking these classic coming-of-age questions. Confronting emotions, escaping expectation, and deciphering complicated relationships -- the songs cover such universal issues as love, commitment, identity, and meaning.
EDGES wants you to explore what happens when we are teetering on the edges!
Directed by MAHAR MANGAHAS
Musical Direction by EJAY YATCO
Set Design by JJ IGNACIO
Lighting Design by TINA BARAYOGA
Created by BENJ PASEK AND JUSTIN PAUL
Showdates are from July 14 - 31 at the Ateneo Fine Arts Theater, 3rd floor, Gonzaga Hall
For ticket inquiries, contact Tine at 09174670080.
I just found out that the Robinsons Specialty Stores are having a Buy One Get One Free promo. Visit any Dorothy Perkins, TopShop, and TopMan stores from July 28 to August 1 to avail of their BOGOF sale!
Our country has developed what seems to be a symbiotic bond with cellphones. They come in all shapes, sizes and colors. From children to folks in their latter years, they all have them. One especially appealing trait these communication tools emphasize is their body. They started bulky and have transformed and morphed through the years into slim, sexy, sliding, touchy-screeny machines! My favorite happens to be the qwerty/bar type that is most commonly seen in business line phones. The touch screen is also making waves with powerhouse products such as the iPhone and other media centered lines of all brands. There are old school fanatics who prefer the simplicity of the bar type cell, preferring to stick to the traditional layout of the keypad. The slim,slide phones seem to be picking quite a fanbase with the younger crowd as well. All these factors make me wonder, which style dominates our cultures aesthetic preferences. Vote now!!!
I read that starfish do not have centralized brains. Nor do they have well-defined sensory inputs. What they do have is a "primitive" brain - a kind of nervous system which makes them sensitive to touch. This is called nerve pluxus, which enables them to do certain things without having a reason. But then, it cannot be denied that starfish are one of the most used decorations to beautify things. Thus, starfish will always be pretty and cute to the naked eye but will always lack a brain to ever think of something.
I don't intend to be rude but there are a lot of times where you'll get to meet women who are like starfish. Pretty to look at. That's all. Period.
One of the industries in our society that is infected by the Starfish malady is Showbiz. Pretty girls with flawless skins, big boobs, long-straight hair, pouting lips (natural or not) with very minimal plans of finishing a degree, thrive there. Ordinary men usually look at them from afar and have a small chance of meeting them. And if they ever do, it is such a disappointment on their part when a conversation is started. I've talked to several guy friends, one of which told me that it was like receiving a gift with an enticing wrapper only to find a picture frame inside. A picture frame, dude! A PICTURE FRAME! I can just imagine the thrill in people's eyes when they receive such an overused and lame gift as a picture frame.
"Starfish" are the kind of women who live life as if beauty, and beauty alone, define their existence. In our culture, most beautiful girls are expected to be clueless because the time that they could have used in reading books or learning are spent in front of the mirror, perfecting the coordination of every strand in their hair.
Nobody likes stereotyping but this is inevitable in our culture. Of course, there are still girls who break the conventional expectations. Most of the time, the starfish are the ones who enjoy being marginalized by men. They like it when they are put into the "male-built pedestal". I guess they must think that they deserve to be treated as princesses because they look like one. Sometimes, it's sad to realize that these girls only dream of marrying their princes, rather than think of a career that could contribute to the improvement of their being. It's sad to know that these girls are enjoying the male-built pedestal too much to even think that they can do better than what society is dictating to them. And even if they begin to learn, they would still choose to act dumb and be the damsel in distress. They need to be saved by their knight in shining armor, also known as the sea high-tide. This is needed so that after a harsh wake up call, they can forget about everything, go back to the world and operate like they used to. Standing around and looking beautiful.
I am not being insecure here, it's just that I get depressed when someone with the same chromosomes as me are being laughed at when they begin talking. Often I talk to myself and would label these girls as "starfish," but I make sure no one hears it. But I don't think one will get offended if you'll say that she's a starfish right to her face; she might be unaware of what you really mean.
And you know what scares me big time? Starfish are known for their ability to regenerate.
It is the fear of a writer with deadlines; the fear of facing it over and over because it always brings you back to the start. Sometimes you are excited to see it, as if the answers will flash the right words any minute, with every blink of the cursor. But most of the time, it stares back for hours.
I call it the curse of the white blank page.
It is believed that when you stare at the white blank page for a long time hallucination can come and bite you. Today it is a monstrous spiky green thing that will poke my eyes anytime if I don’t stop staring. He’s telling me to paint this city dirty. * evil laugh*
Just as any other white things, we can’t wait to get this untainted thing dirty. With this one, it has to be the right words, with style and creativity. If words alone are powerful enough, how much more the right ones? Maybe that is why they are hard to find. Words can make or break you, depending on how it is aimed. The worst is that it stays with you even in your loneliness.
Writers have a big responsibility because words are their weapon of choice. They can make you laugh, cry, fall in love, scare you, and make you believe. They can bring you anywhere without leaving anything behind. They offer escape. A world that makes dragons alive and wishes comes true, where your imagination ends is the limitation.
Writing and reading is like breathing, once we learn we can never unlearn. Reading is a pleasure that we can experience in this lifetime, how much more writing? Being able to express yourself in a treatment of your choice, to share the things you like, hate and all the things in between. A gift given to many but not practiced by everyone.
Ugh, now what to write? Here I am staring at my white blank page, thinking of something interesting and waiting for the right words to come. Uhm…maybe something funny? About deaths and goodbyes? What about monsters and dinosaurs and cactus? Ugh, I hate deadlines. *fade out*
The leader of every nation has a big task on knowing what to prioritize and decide with conviction how they would approach problems in the society. People see things in different ways, good or bad, each has a different belief. Our views may not be the same, but our enemies are.
The Art of War by Sun Tzu: (Last verse from chapter 3)
故曰：知彼知己，百戰不殆；不知彼而知己，一勝一負；不知彼，不知己，每戰必殆
So it is said that if you know your enemies and know yourself, you can win a hundred battles without a single loss.
If you only know yourself, but not your opponent, you may win or may lose.
If you know neither yourself nor your enemy, you will always endanger yourself.
Since we are getting prepared to give our hopes to our new elected president, Benigno “Noynoy” S. Aquino III, still we need to see what we can do, and not what he would do. Promises are made to be broken, not always, but often.
The Philippines, unfortunately being one of the third world countries, still is rich in resources. Actually, we are one of the richest countries before, because our country is a tropical country. People tend to blame our past leaders why we are poor today, but the past is finished, we should look forward to our future. It’s sad to see other countries to be back on their feet after being down, but we can’t. (Ex. China, Singapore, Taiwan, Malaysia) And all their success is because of their leaders. Always remember, no leader is perfect, there is always imperfections.
Great leaders are made, not born, this is a fact. In the quote of Master Sun Tzu in his book, The Art of War, conquering the enemy applies not only to war, but to all things in life. Each individual’s way of life is different because we are the only leaders for our lives.
Knowing what we want to achieve in our life is often the question to initiate change. As individuals, understanding what we are against should lead us to the solution. It maybe business, spiritual beliefs, family, love, war and many other trials in life, but there is a solution.
I love listening to Japanese and Korean pop songs. That statement (should I happen to declare it out loud, not that I make it a point of randomly blurting out my music preferences in public) is almost always met with the expected reaction of “Haaaaa, bakit?” from people. My older sister, particularly, thinks I’m cuckoo for actually liking those songs that, as she puts it, “you don’t even understand what the lyrics actually mean.”
Which is why I’m glad for the sudden influx of Korean boy bands infiltrating the Philippines: while I don’t really listen to U-Kiss or BEAST (I’m more of a J-pop fan than a K-pop one), their presence in our country makes it easier for me to explain now one of the rather shallow reasons why I listen to Asian pop that isn’t Filipino:
Korean boy band U-KISS
Korean boy band BEAST/B2ST/however their band name is spelled
They’re incredibly good-looking.
Okay, maybe I exaggerate when I say incredibly. (Especially when referring to that member of U-Kiss with his hair in braids. Apparently he’s only fifteen.) Maybe they do look like lesbians as Mo Twister claims in his Twitter. Maybe I just have a penchant for feminine-looking men. Maybe I should have chosen another picture of BEAST to put up here. Maybe it’s a matter of personal taste and opinion. Heck, maybe it’s all of the above. But for me, they look good as a group, and that’s a huge factor thats got me hooked on their music. And I know I speak not only for myself, but for the millions of fangirls out there. (Yes, there are more of us. Muhaha. Be afraid. Be very, very afraid.)
Oh, I know, I might hear some wisecrack comment about not seeing them when I actually listen to their music anyway. But allow me to rephrase. When I say they’re good-looking, I don’t only mean that they look good; the catch is, they also surprisingly sound good and dance good, to boot. Again, maybe I exaggerate; maybe it’s a matter of preference. But in a music scene where the Philippine definition of ‘boy band’ is either a collection of dancers (i.e The Maneouvers) or a group of men pretending to be boys while singing in deep voices and doing the occasional hip thrust which is supposed to look sexy but the sexiness is lost on me (yes, I am referring to the Masculados-- or Masculados Dos, whatever they’re apparently called now) for the Japanese and Korean boy bands to actually manage to combine everything into a package is a plus. (I know, we have XLR8 now--but that’s for another article. )
So yes, one of my reasons for listening to Japanese and Korean pop so much is because I find them attractive. I did say it was shallow, didn’t I? But remember, I also said it’s just one of the reasons. What are the others? You’ll have to stay tuned to find out.
[ images used taken from Google.com and are not owned by Carbonatedpinoy. ]
Rock N’ Rogue is a concert series held in Encore (formerly known as Embassy) and is produced by JB Music, Encore and J2nes in cooperation with Rogue Magazine and Channel [V]. According to Jerico Fernando, VP-Sales and Marketing of JB Music store chain and co-founder of J2nes, Rock N’ Rogue aims to promote the local music industry into new heights and provide the bands with the best audio equipment.
Having attended the first two concerts myself, I could really say that the concert experience in Encore is incomparable. You can’t go wrong with sound equipment when the concert you’re attending to is produced by one of the biggest retailer and distributor of musical instruments and audio equipment in the country.
You just have to be there to believe it.
“I just want to give people a nice time, like watching rock bands in a big club with superb sound system,” says Fernando. “Many clubs around town fail to offer a really good musical experience because they lower their costs, including the sound system”.
Rock N’ Rogue had its successful launch last April 29 featuring Urbandub, with the band also celebrating its 10th year in the music industry. The Encore Main Room was jam-packed with Dubistas in perfect attendance. Gabby Alipe (Urbandub vocalist) even confessed that it was their longest set ever, with the band performing almost 20 songs from their five album releases. The band also did not expect the number of people that actually showed up for the event.
Two months after the launch, Bamboo took the Encore stage to give their fans a “musical beating” through their wide array of hit singles and also a few well-known Rivermaya songs. Nathan Azarcon (Bamboo bassist) even jokingly thanked Rico Blanco for writing the songs that they played that night. The second installment of the concert series was another success, and I am glad to have been part of it, in a way, by taking photographs and occasionally singing along to the songs I was familiar with.
Still in the lineup to perform this year are The Dawn, Wolfgang and Razorback.
I’ve read a couple of reactions from people on social networking sites saying that the strict ban of the wang-wang (car siren) is not really a big deal. Well I beg to disagree. I’d like to believe that the strict implementation of the wang-wang ban is the start of a better Philippines. It’s a step towards the end of corruption in the country.
Why do people put those annoyingly-noisy-things on their cars anyway? Those sirens were originally attached to ambulances, fire trucks, and police cars. Then they were attached to the cars of VIPs. These so-called VIPs attend many important meetings that are usually time-sensitive. They use the siren to avoid being held up by trapik (fact: there’s always heavy traffic in urban areas in the Philippines.. haha..). I think that people attach those sirens because 1) they don’t want to be stuck in traffic and 2) they just want to appear like VIPs. In a way, I think this is being corrupt. These sirens make people escape the heavy traffic that a lot of other Filipinos experience everyday. Doesn’t that sound like cheating?
I don’t really approve on the use of sirens by politicians either. I don't think they should escape the congested city streets. They shouldn’t think that they should be exempted from the harsh reality that is called ‘heavy traffic.’ They were elected by the citizens therefore they must serve them. They should be humble enough to be willing to experience what the people who voted for them experience.
I hope that the wang-wang ban is indeed a start towards an improved Pilipinas.
When someone mentions the word “Yakult”, the first things that come to my mind are the following (in no particular order):
1) Family Kuarta o Kahon, that 90’s game show on Channel 9 hosted by Pepe Pimentel, who had Willie Revillame’s charisma but only a fraction of the hubris, and his (Pepe’s) Roleta ng Kapalaran;
2) Lactobacilli-Shirota strain, a type of microorganism created by a dude named Shirota, the active ingredient in all Yakult drinks, personified by little yellowish Smurf-like creatures whooping the bejesus out of “bad bacteria”;
3) Yakult ladies, those diligent vendors who I would have mistaken for Metro Aides if not for their icebox-full of Yakult products, which they sell near big establishments, particularly Nayong Pilipino and Manila Zoo; and
4) Gabe Mercado.
I don’t even know if it’s milk or yogurt or something entirely not dairy, but the fact that many people still drink – and enjoy – Yakult is a testament to its impact on the Filipino psyche. It advertises itself as a drink to improve the flow of digestion, but Pinoys have digested Yakult some other way: as baon for school or the office, as pasalubong, as a way to appease brats on the way to the church, or just a simple, everyday alternative to sodas, juices, and energy drinks.
The name Yakult is not just a brand anymore; it has come to embody the drink itself. Some copycats tried to get a piece of Yakult’s success by having more striking advertising machineries and other pautot (remember that blue genie-like moron, anyone?), but still Yakult held on. Maybe Yakult was more popular before than now, but its effects are definitely felt even today, not just in our stomachs, but in our cultural consciousness as well.
Kssssss... The sound of a freshly opened bottle of pop! Welcome to Carbonated Pinoy! Philippine Pop Culture for the technologically inclined. A place we can share our mind-thoughts with everybody and everyone! No boundaries, no limitations, no censors. Here at CP that's what we’re all about! Exploring all the hot topics of today, heated discussions about current affairs and keeping up to date on events! Pinoy’s point of views for Pinoys!
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