Bridge the Gap in Education

In urban areas, there are 70-100 students congested in a classroom.
3-4 students either have to share desks intended for two.. or they just sit on the floor.
Students have to share among themselves textbooks of poor quality, if there are any.
There are no sufficient teaching materials such as charts, meter sticks, and the like.
Facilities in schools lack a library or enough toilets.



More than half of Filipino children are enrolled in these public schools.


Visit ACED Bridge and help with any way you can.

Squidoo Pages:
http://www.squidoo.com/Ateneo-ACED
http://www.squidoo.com/acedbridge

Two More Weeks

Well, it's not really two but four (before end of classes). But I have to post Grizzly Bear's Two Weeks while I'm still in my can't-believe-I-just-heard-this-now phase.



It's usually my first instinct to check up a band once I see it's name. I'm a band manager poser like that. I feel like there's music that I have to constantly capture all the time. So it was weird that I forgot about Grizzly Bear when I saw it as the example in an iPhone tutorial. I finally got to listen and it's not my typical post-punk tunes but I was enthralled just the same. Two Weeks feels like a choir went to the playground, found a band set and started putting you in a trance by their voice. Hopefully, their other songs keep me in this trance.

Only You, Mark My Words

Just being nostalgic, here's the song and video where it all started.



How could you not love Saosin then? Green kept twirling around although so drunk/high/crazy that a guy had to hold him for the former part of the song. He actually fell in 2:31 and he was still screaming like a man possessed. Now that's just stage presence. The song climaxed in 2:22 with the whole band rowdy and banging their heads off. This is the kind of performance I hope to see every time I go to a gig. Not the studio recorded ones that sounds so clean and perfect because there's really no fun in that. Gigs should be like this: insane, loud and fun.

Anthony Green is my performer hero.
How I wish I could growl, twirl and go epileptic like him.

You've Got a Cheshire Cat Grin

Speaking of rainbows, I've been addicted to Radiohead's In Rainbows for quite some time. The album really gets you going. I actually jogged 30-minutes straight with Thom Yorke singing at my ears. The album is a poetic masterpiece mixed with unpredictable beats. It's like an introvert Death Cab with experimental beats and effects; it's a gloomy kind of romantic. In Rainbows was actually released legally for whatever price you decide - a first in the music industry. You could either pay even as high as million or as low as a dollar. Or you could not pay at all. It's an interesting gimmick which a five-star rated album doesn't really need.

So I haven't really listened to all the songs most of what I heard talks about something that's missing. This usually makes for sappy and stalker-like lyrics with words like "I need you" blah blah and all those crap. But what makes Radiohead awesome is it makes it genuine and sweet instead of making you vomit. I mean I'm no moth but I'd melt with: "I am a moth who just wants to share your light".

Best songs in the album: All I Need, Nude, Jigsaw Falling Into Place, Reckoner, 15 Step.. it's a really good album.

Looklet

I've been recently introduced to Looklet, this fashion site where you can style clothes. Basically, it's virtual paper dolls for adults. When I first saw it, I was a bit skeptic since there's really nothing to do but to mix and match garments. Yet after a few looks, I realized that I haven't outgrown paper dolls. To make my hobby a bit "productive", I created my own collection which included styles for a party, formal event, shopping day, work day etcetera. It's actually a rainbow collection since I'm that addicted to color. If I could eat rainbows, I would.

Like any kid who just finished dressing up a paper doll, I now wish I can own these colorful clothes.

Body Con

I'm going gaga over these one-shouldered dresses.

The first one's a Herve Leger knock-off which costs relatively cheap! I always get excited over bandage dresses probably because it's just plain striking. Striking since it sticks to you like skin.. a "second skin" dress if you will. So yes, it's a pretty unforgiving dress but what the heck. The other one's all futuristic with the silver details which is exactly the non-boring dress I was looking for.


Unfortunately for me, I'm still broke and I still have a Php1500 dress waiting to worn. Maybe a few more lambing and my brother could give me shopping money.

On another note, this actually proves to people that Multiply is not dead! It's actually a breeding ground for aspiring designers or businessmen. I'm actually buying three shirts soon. :)

Statement Tees

I'm not really a fan of wearing funny shirts but I do enjoy searching for them and simply laughing at the jokes. Here are some of those shirts. The chemical formula means alcohol. :)

The Avalon is Always Beside Me

It all started during sophomore year of high school.

I was a big Incubus fan then and with my little allowance, I tried saving for every Php450.00 album they released. Seated at my back was a skater guy and he knows this. He asked if I knew Azwethinkweiz and I can't believe I said no. I thought I was this big fan. He then asked if I knew Saosin and again, I can't believe I said no.

So one morning, he let me listen to a song on his earphones. I liked it immediately. As the song reached it's chorus, the vocalist growled which I actually found (in its own way) melodic. I asked what the vocalist growled. He said, "I will find a way without you." Thus began my love for screamo (or post-hardcore if you want to be technical) and my never-ending quest for other underground bands. My musical journey really started with Saosin.

Fast forward to this year, finally they're coming to Manila! Unfortunately, I go for Green on the whole vocalist debate. Still excited though. :)

Best songs of Saosin: Not just because of the bias, but it's mostly from the Translating the Name EP (Seven Years, I Can Tell, Translating The Name)

Helium Love

Since it's my first time to write about bands, I shall focus on a low-key band called Oh No Ono. To describe them in one phrase: The Band with Helium Vocals. They are the typical skinny, messy-haired group yet when the music starts, you'll definitely have a double-look. So yeah, they are pretty high-pitched.

So far, I only like two of their songs which both have an opposite sound: Practical Money Skills for Life and Swim. I was looking for songs to make my Dance Mix awesome and I found the former. Probably one of the best songs in the mix. The latter, however, has a creepy, otherworldly feel to it and the video complements it well with a plot about a small boy imagining perverted thoughts. I do hope little boys don't actually fantasize about these.

A Light That Got Out

It seems there's a continuous rave for the movie 500 Days of Summer. Suddenly, Ben Gibbard has more competition with Zooey. I've been seeing guys profess their likeness for the girl by displaying virtual hearts beside the name Zooey on Facebook. I've also been seeing the never-ending 'vagiant' line so I decided to satisfy my curiosity by checking the website. Lo and behold, it greeted me with my favorite song. My supposed low-key favorite song from The Smiths. And here I thought it's a light that never goes out.

I remembered how a friend sort of disliked how I saw Rockband as a medium of making good low-key songs mainstream. He found it selfish. How some people (which I'm included) can't handle good songs that are commercialized. I agree it's selfish. But some songs are good being low-key. It's just better to appreciate music as is and not because you can associate it with some movie.

"Little Boy"

Ondoy, or translated as "Little Boy", was supposed to be a little boy among the typhoons. It wasn't even predicted as a typhoon but a tropical storm. Nevertheless, it wreaked havoc in many parts of the Philippines and it really made me rethink my stand on the whole "end of the world" concept.

White Flag

A lot people think I'm a non-conformist. It's not really why I don't care much for Fezbook. I think it's just another social networking site and aren't we sick of all the Friendsters which doesn't make us a bit social? In a generation where the hands talk more than the lips, I've fine with my messenger thankyouverymuch. All I need is to upload photos and online window shop and Multiply takes care of this.

I was living just fine without Fezbook until it became a newspaper.
+ No one uploads much in Multiply anymore.
+ I didn't get any of this. It's like a bunch of people laughing at an awesome joke while I didn't get the pun.
+ Official Ateneo statements are first posted in friggin Fezbook.
+ And the clincher... my friend's house got submerged in floodwater and I'm the last to know (after five days).

Basically, people share more in this book that has a face. So after the storm, I believe it's time to raise the white flag... or at least with a faux name first.