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Thank you and Good bye, Jwill. (Elbow pass and some.)

This deserves a longer entry but work/time won't permit me to do so. For now. Let it be known that last Saturday was the lowest point in my basketball life. It's over. And it downright sucks. i am still at a loss for words. And still in denial. Jason Williams retired from basketball over the weekend. Anyway, here's a teaser of an entry as i compiled some of the googled pics over the years of being a fan. A longer more emotional blog post later this week for the meantime... (Come to think of it, i never posted this many pictures of any of my ex-girlfriends in a blog or non-online diaries. It must be because they never gave me a ring. Jwill did.)

What's on One U? (Sept 30, 2008)

A few Eagles land in the studio to share their thoughts on their recent championship run (including most likely, most probably Krissy's cousin, Chris Tiu...)

One U visited one of the regional championships over the weekend as the team went to the Bicol province to cover the action at the PCC Region 3 Finals... This time an Ateneo team was tamed and shamed by the visitors (Although the hometown team did win the championship and advanced to the zonals)...And of course, who ever gets the NCAA championship later today will get a share of the limelight...

One U will also update the Zonal Qualifiers and which college teams have the chance to advance to the PCC Sweet Sixteen...

DIE BAP DIE!

There's already an online petition ongoing. Do your thing. Be a Filipino and stop the madness that is called Graham Lim and spelled B-A-P.

Below is the link. i want to explain but the petition practically says it all, click on and read on. AND DO SIGN UP.

DIE BAP DIE!

What's on ONE U? (September 23, 2008)

Tonight's guest analyst, as usual, will be writers/columnists from www.inboundpass.com namely Mr. Mike Abasolo (overall nice guy, a San Beda Red Lion) and Mr. Sid Ventura, originally from www.ubelt.com, the "rookie" of the group (just recently joined IP) and the silent type of the bunch (at least on the set, and yes we'd work on removing that probable shyness and tell him to treat it as if he is just writing one of his columns).

Opinionated analysis and discussions on the UAAP Finals, NCAA Final Four, NCAA Finals Preview, All One U Team (Show's version of the various awarding but with a little twist: just ONE team for the entire country!) and the weekly power rankings.

Dreamless

Whatever happens
don’t look into a mirror in your dreams
It reflects
what you haven’t become
Spits at you images
of what you haven’t done

You made your peace
with what’s gone
But the battle continues
against your piece of mind
You can escape the mind and sanity
But never from pure emotions…

Nothing ever happens
in the land of dead hopes
Breathe in and breathe out
the smoke of the past
From a fire that burns
the future that is cast

Destined to something
worse than death
You fight to live
Destined to nothing
more than life
You fight to die

Help II, emailblast to everyone! Use as avatar or signature! Whatever! Promote One U!

Going Postal

First up some definitions and descriptions: "Postal" is a computer game made in 1997 with a sequel in 2003. Apparently the latter version is better known than the original and it follows that, it is more popular among the PC gamers A film, inspired by the same video game was released last year with the same title and is the cause for this entry. Inspiration is a sad and underrated word as you will see later as i try to analyze the movie's values, depth and overall ingenuity as a modern art. Sarcasm and irony, by the way are two words that are both sad and underrated as well. (Fast fact: if i did play the video game, i do not remember it; but most likely would have had liked it if ever i did indeed play it. Fast fact #2: i recently watched the film over the weekend)

And before i forget, the phrase "going postal" is an American slang meaning "killing spree." And that should about set-up the mood for this entry.

Now, some Wiki help for brief articles about the video game:

The developers of the game counteracted criticism of the violence by claiming that the amount of violence is up to the players—they may go about their tasks without causing trouble, or they can create mayhem. Critics state that the game clearly urges people playing the game to indulge in homicidal behaviour, given that Dude is often attacked by ludicrous hate groups who despise everything from books to video games. Additionally, there are long queues when Dude visits the bank, the library, Church, and elsewhere. The people of Paradise are exceptionally rude and spit insults at Dude if he bumps into them, and furthermore weapons ranging from machine guns to rocket launchers are left lying around for him to collect.

More net help this time from www.imdb.com discovering that the director of the film is a certain Uwe Boll... which led me to even more interesting factoids about the its creators:

Criticism
Many of Boll's movies, especially those based on video games, have been critically panned. As of April 4, 2008, Alone in the Dark, BloodRayne II: Deliverance and House of the Dead appear on the Internet Movie Database's Bottom 100 films list. In a review of Alone in the Dark, Rob Vaux states that the movie should make all other "bad" movie directors feel better in comparison: "'It's okay,' they'll tell themselves, 'I didn't make Alone in the Dark.'" Another reviewer wrote that Alone in the Dark was "so poorly built, so horribly acted and so sloppily stitched together that it's not even at the straight-to-DVD level.

Response to criticism
Boll does not shy away from his critics. In the Alone in the Dark DVD commentary, he responds to criticism that his adaptations make significant changes to the plot and style of the source material: "Fans are always totally flipping out and I understand that the fan of a video game has his own agenda in his head and has his ideas about what is a good movie and what is a bad movie."

When Wired published a negative review of Postal, Boll responded with an e-mail claiming that the critic "(didn't) understand anything about movies and that you are a untalented wanna bee filmmaker with no balls and no understanding what POSTAL is. you dont see courage because you are nothing. and no go to your mum and fuck her ...because she cooks for you now since 30 years ..so she deserves it".

And the movie tagline (Maybe i should have started with this phrase to start the entry):

Some comedies go too far... others start there.

And now the plot summary from the imbd website:

"In the ironically named city of Paradise, a recently laid-off loser (Ward) teams up with his cult-leading uncle (Foley) to steal a peculiar bounty of riches from their local amusement park; somehow, the recently arrived Taliban have a similar focus, but a far more sinister intent..." "The story begins with a regular Joe who tries desperately to seek employment, but embarks on a violent rampage when he teams up with cult leader Uncle Dave. Their first act is to heist an amusement park, only to learn that the Taliban are planning the same heist as well. Chaos ensues, and now the Postal Dude must not only take on terrorists but political figures as well..."

Clearly, there isn't much to say. There's a thin line between witty stupidity and total stupidity. Postal crosses that line, back and forth hundredfolds. When i started this entry i planned to "review" the said movie--- but lacked both the energy and stupidity to do so--- which could be an entirely good thing.

Did i enjoy the flick? Thought so. Despite its dark, morbid, aggressive and nihilistic (plus stupidly insane exaggerations and common metaphors), i actually laughed as many times as the body count in the movie.

Rent, buy or download? i won't advise against it. Though i really won't encourage it to the weak of hearts (and closed minds) Just make sure you know to cross that line from time to time. Violence. Sex. Drugs. War. Nudity. Rock and Roll. Apathy. Nihilism. Social irrelevance. Anti-social relevance. Rejection. and even Love. All in the spirit of unadulterated stupidity.

Everything Ellen Page

This is an entry due months ago. i am not quite sure why i completely forgot to write about it. Or if i decided against writing about it because there is really not much to say other than the fact that i thought i fell in love with her. All i remember is i started searching for her images over the web after watching the 2007 movie, "Juno". Her by the way refers to Ellen Page and here are the pictures saved in my PC. i am deleting and cleaning up some stuff so might as well archive it here. (And if you want to know her, here's her profile: ELLEN PAGE WIKI PROFILE )

Avid All-in

Save this image, post in forums, email blast to everyone you know! (Please?)

Blanco's Back

And we find him in his own universe. Rico Blanco, the former frontman for the band, Rivermaya, released his first solo album, "Your Universe" some weeks back announcing his comeback to the music scene. The first crack of course was the teaser (an understatement since in itself it was the announcement that he was back) called "Yugto", my own review found on this link.

(Fast fact: i did search my own blog to get that link and found out that one anonymous reader did leave a comment telling me that he came across my review over at pinoyexchange.com and since s/he knew Rico personally he forwarded it to to him and apparently Mr. Blanco was "impressed with your insights". True or not, this is the part when i sent a text message to my friends telling them what i just read. This is the part as well when i smile ear to ear, and glee like it's '93 when i first met Rico and the rest of River Maya during their first concert in Naga.)

That said, it's time for the (regular) disclaimer when i am writing (and criticizing) about my own favorite artists and the likes; pardon the prejudice, positive or otherwise. Dissecting Rico was actually the second review i had in this blog, the first one was about NewMaya's Buhay, which fortunately and unfortunately was not music to the ears for some people.

(Fast fact: Member since early 2000 in the River Maya mailing list, i found myself banned from it as my messages were blocked by the RM mailing list administrators after i posted the same Buhay Review there. You can say: "HaAy. Buhay." here. That deserved a blog entry of its own but let it go.)

So without further nonsense, here's Rico's universe from a fan's point of view:

And starting where i left off from the Dissecting Blanco entry (Rico set such a high standard with this single, time will tell if other songs will play up to this level...)

And so the question begs, did the album surpass what Yugto established and did it meet my expectations? The short and simple and answer is a no (And that's considering and reconsidering every personal bias i have) The long and complicated one is listed below.

Blanco's Back (Your Universe - Rico Blanco)

Yugto rebooted Rico's music career with a bang. Did the rest of the Your Universe playlist follow suit? Simply, no. But did it come as a whimper? Hardly. After all, setting a high standard is not a bad thing in itself. After all, you can't blame Rico for being (too) excited and picking the best song to (pre)release. After all, it's not like other songs from Your Universe is not good. After all, after listening to the album 56 times, you realize this was the real Rico Blanco singing to you--- personal and impersonal at the same time.

After all, this could be the very reason why he chose to go solo: produce something that you can call you. Selfishly personal and openly impersonal--- Sure, that sounds in every possible way a negative line of thinking but not to Rico and his emotions. It might have detached Blanco from a lot of expectations, but definitely it re-established himself as the primary mover of his craft--- not other's wants but what he wants to do, what he wants to say and how he wants to do and say it... which is what music, expression and art should be all about.

Sure, it might have been too much of Blanco, his effective mushiness and some. But what really did you expect from a solo album from an artist who once said that "we play what we want to play, kahit na baduy." (circa 90's)... what more do you really want and expect? As always with Rico, he gives you the bad and the good and keeps you asking for more.

Just like the Yugto review where i dissected it piece by piece, here are some thoughts, song by song on Your Universe. (In quote below each are the best lines from the song)

SAY FOREVER - 80's feel. Rico starts off with the throaty vocals before the interestingly 80s vocal attack on the chorus. Progressive bass-line courtesy of E'heads' Buddy Zabala. Synths completes the 80's feel. i used 80's four times in this paragraph. Expect just that. (Reminds me as well of Maya's Golden Boy version)

I'm at the central station Without a destination baby its true, its true.

YOUR UNIVERSE - Just the other night on my way home the song was played over radio. After the song, the (female) DJ had this to say: "Rico made that song for me. Period." Just about sums it up. The song (particularly the lyrics, as expected) captures your want to feel anything that resembles love. The lover or the loved, it's all the same to you. So effective, it doesn't care if you have no one to dedicate the song to. Ok, that sounds as mushy as Rico. i will stop now. (Replaces Atomic Bomb's If, as the number one 'maya love song of all time in my list. Also, counter part of Rico's pain song called Shattered Like from the It's Not Easy Being Green--- meaning you can feel Rico's pain from the former and you can feel his pleasure from this thing called love in this song)

You can thank your stars all you want but I'll always be the lucky one

AYUZ - Nerbyoso (Trip) crossed with a toned down Gising Na (Tuloy ang Ligaya) during the chorus. Horns reminds you of a Blur song.

At sa mali mo'y may liquid paper
Sa lovelife mong panis, Ctrl-alt-delete

HELPLESS - By the 4th and 5th songs (this one and the next) of the album you wonder if Rico should offer any angst at all (Credit a poster from pinoyexchange.com named ThCrrspndnt who said: "Apparently, the word "angst" isn't part of Rico Blanco's vocabulary. Not a single downer on the former Rivermaya mouthpiece's solo debut effort, "Your Universe." Blanco's offerings are full of emotion yet he's not one to be emo or whatever kids these days call it.") Couldn't have said it better. By the way, this is what you get as well for leaving Rico with all the instruments (except for the drums)

I pour some coffee And slowly swirl in mem'ries Of the night we watched the stars fade into space

START AGAIN - Same same as above. Helpless and Start Again remind me of Never Been Better (It's Not Easy Being Green) without the angst plus same acoustic feel and more synths..

If its okay I'd like
A minute to speak with you

OUTTA THIS - Rico and synths once again. Remember Strontium 90 in It's Not Easy Being Green? Well, it's sort of, kind of like that with lyrics and a more conceivable bass line and guitar rifts plus of course the playful synths.

I try my best to kill The emptiness until My heart stops beatin But I'm not breathin

PARA HINDI KA MAWALA - Intentionally Taglish? Probably the mushiest of the bunch. Only song in the album that uses just a single instrument (acoustic guitar)...

Pag diniscuss ko pa
Ma wi-weird-an ka lang
Pag nag-emote ako
Lalo kang tatabang

Antukin - Your Universe's Tagalog counterpart. Confirmation that Rico indeed is in deep trenches of that emotion which is true across this album. You (almost) wish your also in those deep trenches as well. That catchy guitar rift is still at the back of the mind--- where did it come from?! So familiar yet we can't point out the influence. Warning: Almost the entire song copy+pasted next because, after all, this is Blanco we are talking about. Also take note of the extro vocals; "Gumawa na lang tayo ng paraan (Then, paraan is slowly faded out to make way for the backing vocals: "Baby...")

Sorry wala ka nang magagawa/Mahalin mo nalang ako/Ng sobra sobra
Para patas naman tayo/Diba?

Sasalubungin natin ang kinabukasan/Ng walang takot at walang pangamba
Tadhana'y merong tip na makapangyarihan/

Pinaiyak ka ng manghuhula/Hindi na raw tayo magkasamang tatanda/
Buti nalang/Merong langit na nagtatanggol sa/Pag ibig na pursigido't matyaga

Long as we stand as one/Ano man ang ating makabangga/Nothing will ever break us
Wala talaga/As in wala

Hahalikan nalang natin ang kinabukasan/Ng buong loob at yayakapin pa
Tadhana'y medyo overrated kung minsan/

Gumawa nalang tayo ng paraan
Gumawa nalang tayo ng... (Baby)
Gumawa nalang tayo ng paraan

Metropolis - Aptly the last song as Rico bades goodbye and good night. At least for now of course.

Sweet, sweet dreams Sleep tight, good night

So there goes Rico's universe. The good is that is he's back making music--- that is neither this generation's privilege nor it's gift, but just some kind of luck that we got he got to spend making his music in this era. The bad is that he pulled some punches--- you can credit/blame that in his hope to plainly express himself. You can doubt the end result, but you can never doubt the emotions involved.