Generation Eraserheads

Tonight, Ely, Raymund, Marcus, and Buddy will be performing in front of thousands of Eraserheads fans. I am one of your die-hard fans. I am not happy with how other NGOs and the DOH itself handled this. This is supposedly a free concert sponsored by Philip Morris. Anyway, I don’t care if this is not free. I’d pay even if it costs me a month-worth of moolah for the Eraserheads.They have been my inspiration since high school. And nothing changed a bit up to now.

1. I was able to convince my mom to buy me a guitar when  I was in junior high by singing Pare Ko and Magasin. That guitar is now with mordsith — we’ve planned a perfect demolition for it but we are still waiting for the perfect time.
2. My attempt to be a writer was inspired by With a Smile. You know that writing style where you take a couple of lines at a time from a song then write something about it? Well, I know how old-school that was but it worked for me… still does.
3. raserheads is the reason why I only have 3 close friends in high school. The rest are just acquaintances. We are only 4 in the group because we wanted to imitate the group. And modesty aside (yeah, right!), we were THE group back then in high school. Haha.
4. The high school graduation song was supposed to be Minsan, a song I personally suggested to the teachers looking over the graduation program. But because they thought it was too loud, they changed it to Next in Line. &*%&*%! But because I have a little influence with our Yearbook people, I managed to insert a short article (sort of With a Smile in #2 above)… Minsan. It’s just couple of page of text… and almost 10 pages of pictures which I selected myself!!! Ha! That was even better. (And Minsan was played after the valedictorian [*cough* yours *cough* truly *cough*] delivered his speech.)
5. When I was in college, I had a crush with a classmate, but the semester ended and I was not able to ask for her number. Torpedo gave me the assurance that I am not alone in the universe who’s like that. I felt normal — yeah, back then — because of that song.
6. Some firsts:
• first paid concert I attended was when these guys visited Pampanga (1997);
• first music video that I really liked so much: Trip to Jerusalem;
• first original audio tape (yeah! hehehe) I bought is Cutterpillow;
• first song I played using an electric guitar is Poorman’s Grave;

Eraserheads is not just a band. It is an icon of our generation. To quote an article I read from the Internet:

The Eraserheads have gone from being the biggest “flukes” to being the biggest thing ever to happen to the Philippine music industry.

And tonight’s concert will be the biggest concert of all time — at least in this present generation. My mom and dad had Beatles, Rico J Puno, and VST back then. This is the Eraserheads generation.

But I cannot watch you live in this concert. I cannot go there at The Fort tonight. I am sorry guys: I have to go see about a girl.

Happy Birthday, Mom

Today, I just want to greet my Mom — happy, happy birthday. And may she have more birthdays to come. And yeah, she doesn’t read my blog. No, she doesn’t read anyone’s blog at all. If you know her, greet her for me?

Happy Birthday, Mom

A Discussion of Ekstranghero*

This is in reference to Ekstranghero.*

Rememeber that post when I shared I could have been cited as an author of a paper on fiscal decentralization? Well, last Saturday, I and two of my best college buddies, Lando and Den San, had a sumptuous dinner at Dampa-Farmers. And this academic dishonesty/intellectual theft/plagiarism was our ‘dessert.’ Both of them wanted me to confront the professor for so many reasons.  Lando felt betrayed (of course this was actually the alcohol kicking in) that I am not confronting that professor because during our college years, he cited me twice in his papers because he was afraid that I might get mad at him if he submits my idea to his professor. Den San felt almost the same way because he was almost equally drunk that time. No other reason.

Anyway, after some discussion on Russia being a potential/returning hegemon, and the Green Movement being the next big thing, they were able to convince me that I should, at the very least, ask for an explanation from that professor. And I am almost 100% sure I am going to do that. I am a bit hesitant because of the possible headache that this might cause me. What if — just a WHAT IF — this professor, instead of making an explanation, started a legal battle (does she have a cause? I don’t know) against me? I don’t know. Can she cite malicious something? Anyway, Den San’s fiancee is a lawyer, and he already committed free counsel, in case that would happen. Lando has connections with the civil society and I am guessing he’ll be at my back no matter what. (Imagine, the civil society is included in my concern!)

Lando started drafting the letter already (yeah, he’s the one so eager to pursue this) , and I believe he cited “I” want the professor to explain to ADB and the university that I am the first author, so to speak, or at the very least revise the paper with me as a co-author with an explanation why such happened. I know this won’t happen. I mean, will a professor ever admit that ‘mistake’? Naah! Which brings me to Den San’s idea — an under the table settlement. I was thinking 100G… But when Den San said an ADB case study is worth more than a million, I immediately retracted. Den San suggested 1M. Nyahaha! Ang sarap mangarap. Tax-free pa!

No, I won’t be doing this. I’m just happy I was able make a paper  like that. (And modesty aside, I have hundreds of papers like that in my hard drive. Woohoo! Yabang!) And also, I need some substance (kahit medyo mahangin) in this blog. This has been flooded with images during my last couple of posts. Kahiya naman.

World Peace. Bow.

Dear Santa:

Here is my wishlist for Christmas. I needed  to send this in advance so you can’t say no. I’ll be very, very kind from now on. Peksman.

• I want an iPhone and a MacBook.

• I want to meet these people in person.

Scarlett

Maria, o Maria.

Be mine.

I think this list is not too much. But if it is, I’ll settle for world peace. Myahaha! Here is a classic case of a frustrated writer trying hard to write something. And fails.

Good times.

[Bawi na lang ako next time. ]