mona lisa's and mad hatters:

it's been a month now, and i do miss manila. at this point in time, LA is not the right place to nurse a heart like mine. maybe next year.

one week left.

if you feel like the song sounds familiar, well, you got that right - it's the song that played when penny lane got caught probing around the bar while stillwater was happily basking on the glory of their rolling stone triumph. it's an elton john orinigal, but this cover is just so amazing.

hollywood will do you no good

today, i took the train and subway to to hollywood & vine for another day in amoeba music and an exclusive screening of paper heart. the amoeba trip proved to be a fruitful one: i was finally able to purchase a copy of mgmt's oracular spectacular on vinyl (it's a keeper, what a classic. it's so good that i wanna write one entry about this record.), and the beatles' 1962-1966 (which i got for $9.99!), and a copy of almost famous for $5.

forgive the photo, there are no posters available online but as soon as it pops out i'll change this haha.

paper heart is about charlyne yi; a comedienne and musician who was in search for the meaning of love, and in turn, got herself a treat: michael cera. somehow i felt like some of the snippets of couples were irrelevant; i mean if they wanted to portray how the charlyne fell in love, i think it would have been a better idea to juxtapose her growing relationship with michael cera with how these things also happened to the people they surveyed.

the thing i love the most about the movie is how it shows that reality tv sucks if it's just reality without a twist of showbiz cruelty. what can i say? the ending let me down.

but i believe that the movie was good all in all. i love the chemistry between michael cera and charlyne yi. they make a great couple on screen. michael cera's always been a promising heart-on-sleeve boy-next-door, while charlyne yi's quirks weren't pretentious and rubbish. i think that's the most important factor of the film; that the actors they got, including the director, were only acting nothing but themselves, and in the process, able to portray the notions of love from different generations and niches.

i recommend people watch this! it's gonna be out on august, i think.

the saddest girl to hold a martini

it's been years since i first saw this movie (vanilla sky), and it still scares the shit out of me. it freaks me out to know how powerful the mind is. psychological horrors are so fucked up that they leave me feeling so alone after watching them. case in point aside from vanilla sky: requiem for a dream. man, that movie was so hauntingly beautiful.

the weakest part of the film was dave's bar scene with the tech support guy. i mean... that's the part they demonstrate how dave is godlike in the lucid dream. it only goes to show, then, that dave's psychological make-up is not as cool as you think he is. he is made of cookie crumbs from within, along with a hodgepodge of strangely-knit desires. which brings me to...

how could this film be more catholic and freudian? these two theories are brought about through dave's projection of his significant other. i'm guessing that dave isn't satisfied in bed with sofia, that's why his mind plays the game and turns sofia into julie, who i suppose, is a better fuck. that, my friends, is freudian. at the same time, the i'm-sticking-with-julie-in-bed plan is a win-win situation because it appeases dave's guilt from treating julie harshly from his real life (this was actually discussed in the movie). now, don't these concepts of atonement and guilt remind you of elementary school catholic teachings?

filing for bankruptcy but in a good way: amoeba music day

for my trip to LA this summer, i decided to finally start my own vinyl collection, after many moments of deliberation and probing around the net for a cheap entry-level turntable. the acquisition of my black sony record player (tentatively named tyler) certainly opened new avenues to my passion of listening. just listening. mark my words: give it five years, and vinyl will be back in style. it's just so much better than digital music. i have nothing against digitized music, but the feeling of listening to an LP is just so... so real, compared to mp3's and cd's.

as my hunt for vinyl began this week, my mom decided to take me to amoeba music - an independently-owned record store that caters to ALL music-lovers. when i say everyone, i mean everyone...

i mean everyone.
(that's not even half of the whole place!)

amoeba records is such a lovely place. i do believe that it's the bottom of the music chain, in a good way - it's the end of the conveyor belt where the best and worst, the cheap thrills and the hard-hitters belong. going there was such an amazing experience - it was vinyl record store day, which they celebrated by inviting a silkscreen shirt designer to design shirts for free. time was ticking and i didn't even notice. i could've lived there. i could've stayed there my whole life, i swear.

these are the records i bought from amoeba records. this excludes, of course, my previous buys, such as radiohead's "the bends," carly simon's greatest hits, jesus christ superstar, and a carpenters christmas collection.

movies i bought. also from amoeba music.

which reminds me, i saw a bunch of movies this week: marley & me, bedtime stories, sleepless in seattle (again), 17 again, hannah montana: the movie, knowing, and spider-man 2. the list will go on as these new acquisitions will add to my movie fix here in LA.

and my new instruments yay!

jazz & explosions

i don't know.


what's up with you?

universal city, ca.

i am the highway

downtown la - olvera - chinatown, via metro link.

the three days you were dead

san dimas, ca.

like fireflies under shoes

i feel like for every word i say

there is a certain disregard from the circus

but know that i'm still on to you

and you're still on to me.

and the laughter makes the paradox go away like fireflies under shoes.

disneyland '09.

the happiest place on earth

disneyland '09.

hangover hobby kit and tie: the bamboozle left '09 experience

the free stuff! i should've gotten more. :(

it was just like any other fan-taken youtube video with the audience not singing - but screaming the lyrics of their favorite songs. the merchandise, the beautiful people, the southern california heat, and all that shit. despite the major crowd draws every once in a while, the bamboozle left was a success deep in the hearts of music fans who stormed the verizon wireless ampitheater grounds, including me.

the map, courtesy of the bamboozle left website.

i came there hoping for an awesome show, and i got what i wanted. well... i started off by going around, looking at some merchandise. awesome. i bought a Vagrant shirt for $10, not bad - just to get a hold on one of those plastic bags, just in case you know, the "push & shove" happens. more on that later. i met up with a friend and his friend right after. we hung out near one of the minor stages - god i feel so guilty just saying it out loud. but it couldn't have been avoided, surely there were going to be some acts that were fit for the more intimate stages.

merch, merch.

sadly, while we were hanging out at around 4:30pm... taking back sunday had a signing session in their macbeth tour bus, right under our fucking noses. by the time we found out and hurried to the line, the security lady said, no more autographs. i felt so bad. but i was still confident that we would have a good night. strolling, going back to the main stages (wonka & imagination), i saw one of the stalls with a jar on their table. it wasn't like any ordinary jar... it said there, "EVERY $1 KILLS AN EMO KID. KILL 'EM ALL!" it was so funny and sad. i felt like if anybody dropped a dollar in there, my heart would stop beating right at the moment. haha!

from the saosin official website.

SAOSIN. fucking a! it was my VERY FIRST time to experience a "push & shove." my friends and i went as near to the stage as possible one band before saosin. the vandals (awesome, they sang Oi To The World! :D) was playing in the other stage, so we were camping right on time. but as soon as the vandals ended and saosin grabbed their gear, EVERYONE gave a huge push from the back! i saw throwing elbows and sweat and blood, and i myself had my own share of tiny pockets of suffocation. they played a new song first, and then Voices. it was great. some people were body surfing too, and that was also my first time to see that kind of stuff. me and my damaged lungs were still there to survive the show - regardless of how high the sun was yesterday in irvine. they played a bunch of news and olds, but more on their new stuff. honestly, i was quite disappointed with saosin's set. their stage mixing was off. cove was pretty cool, i didn't know he had dreadlocks.

from the used official website.

THE USED. ah, here's the dark horse. remember the time when we were all singing our hearts out with songs from their self-titled album? that was around junior year in high school. and then the used broke our hearts, coming out with an album with really silly songs, which somehow we felt like bert mccracken wasn't so comfortable with. this time around, i was really hoping to see how the used has been with their music. i mean of course, i was pretty sure they were working on some new stuff. but for bamboozle, they played a medley of All That I've Got, Taste of Ink, Buried Myself Alive, and then some. that was an awesome medley of their oldies (except for All That I've Got). their last song was Box Of Sharp Objects. how could they fucking go wrong with that?! solid, solid set. i must say, i had fun, and they proved me wrong. the used will always be the used. we all know how it'll never be the same again, but what lives in my heart is who the used was, once in our lives.

THRICE played right after. they were awesome but too bad i didn't know much of their songs.

from taking back sunday official website.

TAKING BACK SUNDAY! now this is a band i love, love, love. at this point in time, the girls all started to come out and play. there was this one girl... more on that later. honestly i didn't feel so bad about that because the crowd became less hostile, at least from where i was. my friend said that there were people fighting in the front. ANYWAY. tbs, tbs, tbs. before watching the show, i wasn't expecting so much from their new guitarist. as we all know, fred mascherino has departed from tbs to start his solo career with The Color Fred. i think taking back sunday isn't taking it so well - they were even selling shirts saying, "I USED TO BE FROM TAKING BACK SUNDAY," or something to that effect. the new guy, matt fazzi, was very impressive. his chemistry with the band is tight. -- on with the show. they started out with You Know How I Do. i did not think they would do that. i mean, it was an old song. but it was a perfect fit, i loved it. they played for 50 minutes i think - their set included classics like You're So Last Summer, Cute Without the E, What's It Feel Like To Be A Ghost, Liar, A Decade Under the Influence (where adam sang the line "if you like it then you shoulda put a ring on it" hahahaha), and AWESOME new songs from their upcoming album, New Again. their set was coming to an end as i shouted from the back of the crowd, "MAKE DAMN SUUUURE!" some people agreed by screaming "YEAH!" they were down to their last song. i would've been disappointed if they didn't play make.damn.sure... BUT THEY DID!!! :D i was so happy HAHAHA. grabe. i was so contented with their set, and i was so happy. taking back sunday, i love you!

from deftones official website.

DEFTONES. i was very tired from the TBS show, but as the imagination stage was ready for some legendary shit, i was walking towards the deftones direction. exactly when i settled for a decent, breahte-able spot, deftones played My Own Summer. fucking chino moreno is god. his growls were solid and haunting, almost spiritually captivating. their stage presence was off the hook. they had their own lights department to really set the tone. they played most of their old songs (i was thinking, maybe they didn't have much new material since the chi cheng incident). i love the part where chino moreno shouted "this is for my brother, my best friend," and started chanting "CHI CHENG!" fuck man that was holy! they played Digital Bath, Elite (FUCKING WILD!), Change In The House of Flies, and many more, i'm just too tired to remember. i noticed, they didn't play Minerva or any of their new stuff from Saturday Night Wrist, correct me if i'm wrong. for the record, i will say this and you can quote me here- DEFTONES ATE ALL OF THE OTHER BANDS ALIVE. tangina they were so intense. i couldn't describe it, i just couldn't. i can't say much about deftones because it was a felt experience that's so hard to write about. HAY basta. fucking ACE.

50 CENT... :|

anyway! i know that a show is good when it inspires me, and the bamboozle left surely made it to my heart. everything was worth it - from the candy-throwing to the girl in glasses to the emo-killing and all that stuff. the bamboozle left experience is something that i'd cherish for life. i loved it!

to leave without saying why:

mike and i met at the airport last sunday. luckily, we were on the same flight. we drank some beer in the smoking area and headed to the plane - which was a huge disadvantage. i always, always get the second round for plane food. i didn't this time, because my stomach was filled with beer air and stuff. besides, i think i ate too much mcdonalds before going to the airport.

the plane trip was fun. i was seated in the same row with mike and his family, but we were opposite each other. i was beside strangers who were good enough to give me some in-flight booze. we hollered at mike so we could all finish the damned booze - the brandy was a killer. the white wine got me tipsy, which knocked me out for a good nap. i also watched almost famous in my ipod. that movie is amazing.

as soon as i got to LA, i made sure i mapped my friends out, care of googlemaps. then, when i woke up, we went to the immigration lawyer - but before that, burger king. can you believe how depressing the double stacker was? i was so disappointed. but eh, not going back there anytime soon.

this is downtown LA. god i missed this place.

then, we ate at some korean place in downtown LA. it wasn't that bad, it's just that i was very sleepy when we were there...

this is practically my life in here. my only problem with living here for a month is boredom. i mean, i have nothing to do in here. in the mean time, while trying to find something to exercise my brain muscles (thinking of freelancing, whut)... the redbox is my bestfriend.

nick & norah's infinite playlist was an instant favorite. i've seen it four times in a row now. it pleasures me to know that movies like this are still being made. i love everything about it. definitely a must-watch for our generation.

slumdog millionaire was okay i guess. too much hype for me, but i must say that the movie was good. it's just that, the ending was too loose. oh well.

here's something i acquired from ebay. arm in arm by remy charlip is an awesome children's book. i learned about it in LIT13. my professor said that it's a rare find - they didn't have copies of it anywhere she went. i'm glad to have my hands on to something like this. it's like lucy in the sky with diamonds for kids.

on sunday, i'll be heading to irvine to watch deftones, taking back sunday, saosin, thrice, the used, and so much more bands. oh yeah!