I found out today that my blog has three loyal readers: Stephanie, a friend from way back (meaning high school) and two friends from Shell, Candice and Louella. I realized that it actually feels good to read comments from readers. Anyway, thanks guys, for inspiring me to write a fourth entry heheh. I don't know what's wrong with me but everytime I start to write, my mind goes blank. Writer's block seems to be quite overused so I'd have to come up with a more creative term...hmmmm...
A few months ago I had a moment of epiphany (I like this expression, sounds very "Christian"). What did I come to realize? That it's been almost 10 years since high school. God, am I really that old? Anyway, if I had to make a timeline of my life, it would be marked by music. I think my friends are relatively aware that I associate years of my life with songs and artists that became big during a specific year. I'm a big 90's guy. When I look back today, I can't help but laugh at how I spent this decade doing nothing but watch MTV/Channel [V], hang out with friends, eat loads of junk food, and sleep. Yeah, yeah, I know people will think that I'm bullshitting about this, given the nerdy persona I project, but the real score is, I hardly studied when I was in high school. College was an entirely different matter, though (read first entry =-) heheh). Back in the day, it was rock band or bust (at least in the Pinoy music scene). Solo acts were devoured like krill to a blue whale. In my high school class, there existed two rock band factions: The Great Divide between the Eraserheads and Rivermaya (besides that of Purefoods and Alaska heheheh). Sure, there was a miniscule number of individuals that pledged allegiance to the likes of Yano, Teeth, Grin Department, Wolfgang, and Parokya ni Edgar but that’s about it. I happened to be a big fan of Rivermaya. Don’t ask me why, but I just like Rivermaya better. Maybe it’s because there’s more passion in Bamboo’s singing and more creativity in Rico Blanco’s songwriting. Rock journalists may throw rotten tomatoes at me, but hey, what do I know? One can’t argue though, that Rivermaya has proven to have more longevity, even if only two of the original members have actually remained with the band (drummer Mark Escueta and vocalist Rico Blanco). Bamboo Manalac is now in a new “self-named” band, so Rivermaya has actually spawned a new band as well as a new rival, though I doubt if both bands will admit to playing the same brand of music.
So here’s my what happened (man do I BEAT around the bush or what?). I went home last March for my sister’s graduation. T’was then when I found out that my li’l brother has taught himself how to play guitar. Now I had guitar lessons before but I never managed to learn anything (except maybe the chords to “Line to Heaven” D-A-G-A- hahahaha) so what’s with my brother learning all by himself, huh??!! I thought I had the smarts in the family, but lately, my brother’s showing signs of genius by learning stuff just by putting his mind into it (think: Neve Campbell in “Wild Things”, learning how to sail in a matter of hours). Anyway, I was unpacking when I heard him strumming oddly familiar chords. I asked him “What’s that you’re playing” and he said “Ligaya”. I said “Oh, so they’ve made another revival, huh? MYMP fever!” and he told me “No, it’s not a revival, it’s an original by the e-heads.” “Original? By the e-heads? Yeah, right maybe ten years ago! As far as I know, they’ve ceased to exist”, I thought. Turns out, he was actually listening to a custom-burned CD that contained songs from MY generation (I’m six years older, so a generation gap is all but understandable). I felt a bit nostalgic (another sign of growing old), thinking of those days when it was I whose mind was being opened up to music. So I went up to my room, rummaged through some old CDs and fished out a limited edition CD called “Himig 90” which contained all the hits of the Eraserheads from “UltraElectroMagneticPop!” to “Aloha MilkyWay”. I handed it to my brother and told him he can have it. How his face brightened up! It was like passing the torch or something. I know this sounds corny, but it feels very good when someone from a younger generation is able to appreciate music from “my day”. I told him he could poke around my cassette tape (yikes! Cassette tapes mostly from mid-90s! hahah) collection if he wants to, provided he wont scratch my tapes, tear the liner notes or crumple anything (yeah, I admit I have obsessive-compulsive disorder). Now how’s that for a li’l brotherly bonding??
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