The Wisdom Of Stewart Copeland 02
Monday, August 27, 2007This is a cliché, but it's really true: The effectiveness of a drummer is really measured in the effectiveness of the group, more so than any other instrument. A guitarist can sound great even if he or she is not focusing on the time. Most guitarists go outside of the groove when they solo - they can shine in other ways, while the rhythm section holds down a riff until the guitarist comes back. In the Police, Andy would get an MXR pedal in the back of his head if he turned his back on the groove too much; you could never turn your back in that band! (laughs.)
To my ears drums are an accompanying instrument. I know that I'm speaking in a drumming magazine, which is in existence to glorify drummers and drums, but really, it has to be recognised that drums are to accompany other instruments. Solos are of limited importance to the repertory. In fact, I've gotten where I've gotten without ever playing drum solos; I refuse to play them. That's how important drum solos are to having a career in music! I've got my own style, and you just told me how identifiable I am, and I've been able to make my mark without playing a drum solo.
All of my work has been as an accompanist, and that's how I've been effective. I don't think drummers realise that the total concentration and knowledge needed to be a good accompanist is far greater than being a great soloist. For example, when playing reggae, even more so than rock'n'roll, the actual rhythm that the drums play isn't all there is to it. A singer can sing rock 'n' roll with just drums - you'd kind of like to hear a guitar - but the rock'n'roll' rhythm would still be there without it. In reggae, it isn't there until you've got that upbeat on the guitar. So in that style the drums are only a part of the rhythm. The point is, you have to know that sort of thing; there's a lot to it.
—
I think you can make a little go a long way when it comes to fills. I think what this all gets back to is making the music happen. As a drummer you shouldn't be thinking in terms of "How am I going to get the attention away from that singer standing in front of me?" That type of attitude isn't going to get you anywhere, except frustrated. It's an attitude I've seen a lot of sidemen have, which frankly is just jealousy. If you enjoy playing drums, just enjoy the sensation of playing drums. Don't expect to be the frontman of a group; it looks ridiculous. Take it for what it is and not for the star quality that it will bestow upon you.
Heads Up!
Friday, August 24, 2007Catch
THE OUTLAWS
on the following dates:
August 28, 2007
MAG:NET - Katipunan
with
EARTHFISHFISH
BUTONG PAKWAN
8 PM
150 Php
—
August 31, 2007
PURPLE HAZE BAR - Tomas Morato cor. E. Rodriguez
OI! ATTACK 20
8 PM
100 Php with one (1) free beer!
—
September 06, 2007
ROUTE 196 - Katipunan
with
PUNY EARTHLINGS
9 PM
100 Php with one (1) free beer
—
September 08, 2007
HIGH TEMPERATURE BAR - Lucena City
with
OIL
8 PM
40 Php with one (1) free beer
Malu, Malu, Malu!
Thursday, August 23, 2007So it was that, while waiting at Jollibee along Sucat Road last night, I received an SMS from Isabel that a certain Malu Fernandez had written an article that contained rather nasty remarks regarding OFWs.
And that this Malu had been – and is still being – sliced and diced all over what is called the blogosphere.
I downloaded a copy of her From Boracay To Greece! earlier today and read on…
Surprisingly, I found nothing wrong with her remarks. At least, not in the way that most people had.
Before anything else, my father has been an OFW even before the acronym was coined. Mum, too, works overseas although she left quite later than Pa did. These sensitivities are perhaps why Isabel sent me that particular message, as she had gotten to know both of them for some time.
Anyway, back to Malu Fernandez… I do not see how she had been offensive in her remarks. Trust me, I have also traveled alongside OFWs and, as much as I respect what they do for their families, most of them are piss-worthy people.
Yes, their remittances do help the economy stay afloat.
Yes, they do show the world how wonderfully talented and how greatly skilled Filipinos are.
But, do you also know how our OFWs wantonly break laws on alcohol and gambling overseas, feeling as though they were in their own backyards?
Do you know how our OFWs smuggle pork into Muslim countries, knowing full well that it is illegal?
Do you know how our OFWs go into malls wearing nothing but short pants and sandos, making natives think that such are our national clothes?
Do you even have any idea how so many of our OFWs spawn and have spawned so many illegitimate children?
Most of all, do you know how so fucking many of our OFWs have tainted and continue to taint our nationality so fucking much that so many other OFWs have suffered and are suffering fucking PREJUDICE?
The problem here is not how Malu Fernandez or any other fucking socialite chose to describe them.
The problem here is how so many OFWs conduct themselves indecently in foreign lands. That part about them talking out loud in aeroplanes, asking questions like, “Katulong ka rin ba?” shows just how happy they are about meeting other Filipinos overseas. That bit about their colognes wafting from the cabin all the way to the boarding gate displays just how humble they are.
One part of me says they really cannot be blamed for such behavior, some of them having come from the provinces and all…
BUT! BUT! BUT! How many fucking years will it take for them to learn how to act like fucking civilized people? A decade? A century, perhaps?
¡Que barbaridad!
The real problem here is not that a fucking socialite chose to write wantonly, and in perhaps the only way she knows how, about OFWs.
We, who belong to the working class, are also guilty of our own misgivings regarding them cake-eaters, the evidence of which is the proliferation of fucking tabloids and fucking afternoon gossip shows.
The real problem here is that a deep and wide chasm exists between the haves and the have-nots in this country, which leads us to the well-known fact that
FILIPINOS GO OVERSEAS BECAUSE THERE ARE SIMPLY NOT ENOUGH JOBS HERE TO FEED A FAMILY DECENTLY.
Having said all of this, I would just want to ask everyone who is seething over Malu Fernandez’s article:
When the dust has settled, does it matter really who points out what?
What is distasteful, after all, when everyone may say anything about anything or anyone?
Is that not the beauty of learning, when we can hear or read or see not just the things we want to?
Er, do we not have a liar and a cheat for a president?
Shigata ga nai. Karma, neh?
The Wisdom Of Stewart Copeland 01
Friday, August 17, 2007"Copeland is also noted for his heavy emphasis on the groove as a compliment to the song, rather than displays of technical prowess. He once drove this point home at a drum clinic: Copeland announced that he would show the audience something "that very few modern drummers can do," and proceeded to play a simple rock beat for two minutes."
- Wikipedia
Because You Choose Not To Know Or See Or Hear Or Believe
Everything was headed down this path. I knew it and I was just waiting for it. And, true enough, it happened just as I wanted it to. Without any effort from me, with no help from anyone. Not even from you. Most especially, not from you. To have lent a hand or to have let anyone at all lend a hand in it would have repeated the cycle all over again.
But, since you always choose to doubt - and I love that about you, among countless other characteristics of yours that you choose to call quirks - perhaps, you failed to perceive the changes that have took place.
I cannot blame you. Since time immemorial, I have been doubted and I am still doubted by many, if not all. Anyway, it would have been too much to ask of you to have faith in me.
Now, you have found the pieces left in the wake of everything that has happened. And, despite the violation that I would never have committed against you, I am not angry. At least, not totally.
And if I have to spend the rest of my life allaying your fears, then I would be honored to do so as I now believe it is my dharma.
Boredom Defined
Q: What is your favorite fast food restaurant?
A: There is no such thing as fast food. Take for example Minute Burger. It takes their staff MINUTES to prepare the burgers, you know.
Q: What is your favorite sit-down restaurant?
A: There are stand-up restaurants? Har har.
Q: On average, what size tip do you leave at a restaurant?
A: For bad service, the size of the tip of my middle finger. For good ones, the size of the tip of my thumb.
Q: What food could you eat every day for two weeks and not get sick of it?
A: First, delete the it and it'd be a correct question. As for the answer, I'd rather not eat for two weeks.
Q: What are your pizza toppings of choice?
A: slices of lamb and pheasant, and basil leaves and black olives
Q: What do you like to put on your toast?
A: one whole roasted calf
TECHNOLOGY
Q: What is your wallpaper on your computer?
A: a photo of Stevie Nicks
Q: How many televisions are in your house?
A: two
BIOLOGY
Q: Are you right-handed or left-handed?
A: Because I do things carefully, I am still both-handed.
Q: Have you ever had anything removed from your body?
A: Do bullets and shrapnel count?
Q: What is the last heavy item you lifted?
A: a bag of cymbals and drum hardware
Q: Have you ever been knocked unconscious?
A: As far as I can remember, I've been punched - or hit with something - and have never been mistaken for a door.
BULLCRAPOLOGY
Q: If it were possible, would you want to know the day you were going to die?
A: First, change the were to are as it is a fact that we are all going to die. Second, what makes you think that I don't know?
Q: If you could change your name, what would you change it to?
A: Wisely. Then I'd join the next elections. Har har.
Q: What color do you think looks best on you?
A: With a lot of people unaware of color composition, it wouldn't really matter now, would it?
Q: Have you ever swallowed a non-food item by mistake?
A: Intentionally, yes. By mistake, no.
Q: Have you ever saved someone's life?
A: Me? Save? Har har.
Q: Has someone ever saved yours?
A: Me? Saved? Har har.
DAREOLOGY
Q: Would you kiss a member of the same sex for $100?
A: My kiss is priceless, regardless of gender. Har har.
Q: Would you allow one of your little fingers to be cut off for $200,000?
A: Supposing that my fingers would ever become little, perhaps.
Q: Would you never blog again for $50,000?
A: Here's the thing: I'm the one holding the gun…
Q: Would you drink an entire bottle of hot sauce for $1,000?
A: I'd happily drink the contents but the entire bottle? Nah.
Q: Would you, without fear of punishment, take a human's life for $1,000,000?
A: It wouldn't be fun without the fear - money or no money.
DUMBOLOGY
Q: What is in your left pocket?
A: The one in front or the one at the back?
Q: Is Napoleon Dynamite actually a good movie?
A: I haven't seen it yet.
Q: Do you have hardwood or carpet in your house?
A: As it is raining, yes. But they're both on me. Har har.
Q: Do you sit or stand in the shower?
A: We don't have chairs in the shower…
Q: How many pairs of flip flops do you own?
A: half, most of the time, thanks to our dachshund, Butch
Q: Last time you had a run-in with the cops?
A: I had to take them down.
Q: What do you want to be when you grow up?
A: I'll grow old but I'll never grow UP.
Q: Who is number 1 on your top 6?
A: It's a tie between Bert Marcelo and Apeng Daldal.
LASTOLOGY
Q: Friend you talked to?
A: Tonio, via YM
Q: Last person who called you?
A: Ms. Juliet Jang
Q: Person you hugged?
A: Maria
Q: Person you kissed?
A: Maria
FAVORITOLOGY
Q: Number?
A: 1 because I've been playing the drums for a year now. Next year, my favorite number will be 2. And so on and so forth. Har har.
Q: Season?
A: salt and pepper
CURRENTOLOGY
Q: Missing someone?
A: As of the last head count, no.
Q: Mood?
A: hung over
Q: Listening to?
A: the drumming in my temples
Q: Watching?
A: my weight
Q: Worrying about?
A: Me? Worry? Har har. The answers would engulf continents.
RANDOMOLOGY
Q: First place you went this morning?
A: wc
Q: What can you not wait to do?
A: I cannot wait to beat the living daylights out of my uncle from California, for starters.
Q: Do you smile often?
A: Why would I do want to that?
Q: Are you a friendly person?
A: I have six faces and three hearts. Go figure.
Ulster 1912 (Rudyard Kipling)
Tuesday, August 14, 2007THE DARK eleventh hour
Draws on and sees us sold
To every evil power
We fought against of old.
Rebellion, rapine, hate,
Oppression, wrong and greed
Are loosed to rule our fate,
By England’s act and deed.
The Faith in which we stand,
The laws we made and guard,
Our honour, lives, and land
Are given for reward
To Murder done by night,
To Treason taught by day,
To folly, sloth, and spite,
And we are thrust away.
The blood our fathers spilt,
Our love, our toils, our pains,
Are counted us for guilt,
And only bind our chains.
Before an Empire’s eyes
The traitor claims his price.
What need of further lies?
We are the sacrifice.
We asked no more than leave
To reap where we had sown,
Through good and ill to cleave
To our own flag and throne.
Now England’s shot and steel
Beneath that flag must show
How loyal hearts should kneel
To England’s oldest foe.
We know the war prepared
On every peaceful home,
We know the hells declared
For such as serve not Rome—
The terror, threats, and dread
In market, hearth, and field—
We know, when all is said.
We perish if we yield.
Believe, we dare not boast,
Believe, we do not fear
We stand to pay the cost
In all that men hold dear.
What answer from the North?
One Law, one Land, one Throne!
If England drive us forth
We shall not fall alone!
alam mo bang kamag-anak ni D yon? hehehe 