Last Saturday, I did make it to those two album launches. Right after the Us-2 Evil-0 set finished at Mag:Net, I ran over to Saguijo in time to catch the last opening act pack up their gear, right before Musical O's set. A set which I didn't finish by the way. I was dead tired. Ended up in Hap Chan with bad dim sum but great milk tea and chilled taho.

I'm so happy for Us-2 Evil-0. Half of the band are my friends and I am proud. I don't know the Musical O kids, but they should be proud too.

By the way, look at these awesome album art. Both album art were photographed and designed by the brilliant couple at Everywhere We Shoot. You can say all you want about the Philppines. Yeah, the country is a madhouse ran by madpersons. But we make music and art that kicks serious ass. I don't plan on being any where else (except, maybe Hong Kong or New York, and just for short periods of time).

debutantes

Two bands are launching their first albums this Saturday.

Musical O is launching their debut album at Saguio.


Us -2 Evil-0 is doing theirs at Mag:net High Street.


Do they really have the word, "debutante" on both their albums titles? Try and make it to both!

I've been seeing a lot of good movies lately. Well, I've been seeing a lot of bad ones too. I saw The Ugly Truth on the plane on the way back home from L.A. And then the other night, I saw 2012. They're all right, I guess, for when you you have no choice but to kill time. Or, as a friend says, for knowing how to appreciate good movies by watching bad ones. Actually, you know what, just read a damn book.

So about the good ones, there was Moon last weekend. And I forgot to mention that I was able to catch Inglorious Basterds last month. It was a one-night screening for the opening of Cinemanila, and it was, actually, the only movie I caught during that festival. I hate admitting this to my friends (God, like that time I said I didn't get Radiohead), but I'm not a big Tarantino fan. I enjoy his stuff a lot, but he's not hugely influential in my, er, life. But of all his films, possibly even over Pulp Fiction, I like Inglorious Basterds the most. That's just me. Please don't hit me.

I get what they mean when this is the grown up Tarantino we're seeing in Basterds. Without completely forsaking his visual and dialogue style, Tarantino, in this film, shows that he's got the maturity and guts to let scenes play themselves out. I know that Tarantion films aren't usually considered quiet films, but I see Basterds as one of those quiet films where the tension is as thick as the hot and sour soup at my favorite Chinese restaurant.

Also, props to Tarantino, for liking There Will Be Blood and acknowledging how that movie sort of made him up his game.

+++

I saw Funny People last night. After sexually naive teens in a 40-year old's body, and meandering twenty-year olds who man up and start families, Judd Apatow deals with mortality and the very adult reality of living with your choices. After seeing the trailer, Funny People was a movie that I wanted to like. But I had my hopes tempered by mixed reviews. So I saw it, and yeah, it was a bit of a mess. But it had me laughing through out, and tearing up in some parts. If it just didn't have too many acts that brought you all over the place.

weirdest gig of the year

I haven't mentioned that for almost the whole of last week, I was in Las Vegas and L.A. on assignment. Before anyone thinks this was a high-paying, high-living gig, I'll tell you now, it wasn't.

In the span of the first 48 hours after landing in Vegas, I had to cover Manny Pacquiao's post-fight concert, Manny's victory mass, and a Wowowee episode, then travel to L.A. by land to shoot Manny and Jinkee's house. And during all that, I had to be on my toes just in case we spotted Krista.

It was also ironic that I was in Vegas during the Pacquiao-Cotto fight, but only to see the last round from standing outside a sports bar, the whole freakin' Strip between me and a soundless large screen TV showing Kenny Bayless waiving off the fight. Irony was taken up a notch the next day when I had front row seats at the Wowowee episode being shot in Vegas. I was there, shooting, and making the most of my great view of Willie R's crotch.

It's been years since I've done press coverage and even then it was never this showbiz/gossip stuff. Seriously, for awhile there, I was depressed. But it was also all so surreal and I appreciate the value of that.

And, erm, photos will come out in the January-February issue of YES Magazine, out in the stands by mid-December.

Moon

I saw Moon last night. Not to be confused with New Moon, for crying out loud. This one was directed by Duncan Jones, son of David Bowie, and acted in by Sam Rockwell. Both of whom turn in fine performances.

Moon is about a guy named Sam (Sam Rockwell) who is in the last weeks of a three-year contractual stretch to man the Lunar Industries-owned moon station. This moon station oversees the mining of helium-3, which, in turn, provides Earth with much of it's clean energy. His only company on this three-year gig is the robot, GERTY (voiced by Kevin Spacey). That's until Sam gets into an accident, wakes up, and finds himself facing Sam.

Who is the real Sam and is the other Sam a figment of an untethered and frayed mind, a clone, or a metaphysical manifestation of needs and wants? Will either Sam make it back home to the wife and kid he left behind? What secrets are hiding in this dark and cold lunar landscape and in the bulkheads of this ominous moon station?

It's all great sci-fi, folks. Sam Rockwell acts by himself and shows his amazing range. Duncan Jones imagines a great story and paces the film well. I like that this quiet movie punches you in the gut and also makes you chuckle sometimes with its gallows humor. Yet, Moon's resolution is just a tad bit hopeful.

I love sci-fi, the imagination that goes into the genre, the cautionary tone, and the hope that is often injected to the text. When confronted with a future, or present, where we humans will do our dumbest best to eradicate our own race and humanity via man-made natural catastrophes, artificial intelligence gone haywire, or cloning misuse, some people just want a cheerier picture. I'll take that.

But I also like sci-fi when it doesn't resolve and when it ends up asking more questions. Like what is the merit and value of reality, love, or one's existence in the face of being infinitesimal in this very large and cold universe?

By the way, if you know me, I'm really a very happy guy. Haha.

If I'm not mistaken, my first time out of the country was for a trip to Hong Kong. That was with my dad, my brother and my dad's friend, Tito Art. I think I was fourteen or fifteen and I have two distinct memories from that trip. The first was that I was amazed that there were malls right under our hotel, and that they were connected to adjacent hotel/malls such that you could walk miles through shops and not have to step out into the street.

The second was that we ate at this amazing restaurant called the Golden Deer. I actually don't remember what we ate. I just remember that it was on the second floor of a rundown building and that we had to enter through the kitchen. The small dining room was full of expats drinking San Miguel Pale Pilsen, and busboys were pouring used glasses of water on our table to clean it.

Since then I've been to Hong Kong for a number of times, usually on quick weekend trips. I go with friends who know the place pretty well so shopping is executed with surgical precision. I like Hong Kong mostly for the food. I can live on Chinese food, especially Cantonese food with it's roast goose, fresh seafood, and dumplings. I was there again last weekend, this time with my brother who hasn't been back since that first trip fifteen years ago.

And for the first time since I've been visiting, I considered Hong Kong as one of my favorite cities. Favorite enough to half seriously consider living there for awhile. It's fast-paced and modern yet it has a patina of something old like most Asian places. The city is small in size yet there are tons of things to do and places to see, and with an awesome public transport system, it's easy to get around. Also they have ferries! I also like Hong Kong because, unlike Singapore, Hong Kong isn't ultra clean and sterilized. You can smell the harbor, the streets have "texture," and things can go wrong.

Like when I brought my brother to this row of eateries along a back street. I go there with my friends and we usually pick the last eatery because there's a Filipina waitress there who we can order fresh shrimps in garlic, taosi clams, and Tsingtao beer from. Well, she wasn't there this time. So I had to make do by pointing at the photos on the menu. Still instead of getting two cups or steamed rice, I managed to order two platefuls of stir fried noodles (which were good anyway).

Anyway, the thought to live in Hong Kong occurred one night while we were hanging at the beach at Discover Bay. It was a cool night, my feet were in the sand, and we were drinking beer. Well, everyone else was drinking beer. I was having a sundae. Anyway, I felt at peace and content. And I realized that if I could feel that way in a place as crazy as Hong Kong, then this place was special. I'll be back.

So Much Excelsior

Owel Alvero, guitarist and song writer for one of my favorite bands, Ang Bandang Shirley, released his solo EP, So Much Excelsior, online and for free. Listen to, and get it HERE now.