burn down the house! burn down the street!

Nokia E61i for sale!

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I've missed LJ but have just been so busy lately. I've been juggling clients from Singapore and NZ and Oz, scheduling and attending rehearsals, shedding, and mixing an album and a split all in the background. While trying to read books, conserve gas and manage my finances. It's sometimes difficult, but I'm happy and thriving.

It's been a relatively restful week though.

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It's strange how people drift in and out of my life in related groups. I got back in touch with two long-ago coworkers recently: Jem and Maan. They both independently put me back in touch with an old supervisor, Virgil, who will hook me up with a Certificate of Employment signed by our ex-boss, Bobet. All this within the span of a month. Also, two other people (Marlon and Cathy, both close friends) happened to friendster message me out of the blue. I haven't read their messages yet though.

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I'm happy at work. I delegated next to all of my document-writing responsibilities to a coworker. I think I've said this before, but this time it's for real. Now all I do is do final edits and sign the papers. I still have to crunch the numbers that go into the documents, but at least I can do that with pencil and paper rather than keyboard and screen. That's one area of tension that I'm letting go of.

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Friends, I'm selling this phone that I'm not using. If you're interested, or if you know anyone interested, you know what to do. Thanks!

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FOR SALE:

Nokia E61i

- good as new, never been used
- qwerty keyboard
- 2Mpx camera
- mp3 player
- quad band
- comes with FREE 1Gb micro SD

specs: http://www.nokia.com.ph/A4530151
review: http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2150077,00.asp

P12,000.

Interested buyers: 0917.833.7363
Look for Mike.

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Someone's got a new gig.

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And so, after tonight's recording session and a couple more weeks of frenzied mixing, I'l be done. (I'm gonna be asking for some opinions again soon, freeimprov, and thanks particularly for that exciting compressor trick you pointed me at; I used it on all the vocals.)

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I listened to the Brian Blade Fellowship's new album today for the first time. Within a couple minutes I had a big smile on my face. It's good.

I want to be this kind of drummer.

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Two days ago, my mother said, "Are we ready for a [pet] goat?"

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That kind of playing comes more naturally to me than others. Yesterday I had a drum jam with Paolo Manuel, Kaka Quisumbing and Bea Lao. Three drum kits, an utter racket. It was fun. It was interesting to see how different we are. There are things I just can't do (or can't do yet), and they don't come naturally to me either. The fusiony stuff, for example And vice versa, certain things I do weren't natural for the other guys.

I'd never think of doing a Weckl-ish "blajda-blajda-bladja" thing. If you've ever listened to Weckl, you know what I'm talking about.

The late night practice pad and beer session rocked too.

That's stuff to work on then. First technique, then technique, and then technique, and then I should pull a little fusion and latin stuff back into my car playlist. It's been 10 years since I listened much to those things.

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I'm nearly done mixing! I've learned a lot.

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Mazinger Z 1969.

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Ran myself ragged this past week. I did the same last week, but it caught up with me. All these simultaneous work projects, plus gigs, rehearsals and mixing resulted in a quick bout with colds. I feel better now but my head's all clogged up. Will buy a banig of decongestants later.

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Quail Quartet played at Angelo (of Saguijo) and Leslie's wedding reception last saturday and man, it was the best jazz gig I've ever played. It was like a door opened in my head. I used to have these moments when I would go for something and there would be an uncertainty that would hit, before I found my place again. None of those this time. All the practicing I've been doing has paid off. I don't think this particular spurt of levelling-up has plateau'd yet, so I'm expecting to get a lot better in the near future.

Plus, it was a joy to be playing in Quail Quartet again.

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I ran my idea for a carbonated shrimp smoothie by my mom today. She thought it was disgusting but said it might possibly be improved by adding some tomato juice. I'll remember that.

Also, I had this idea for a kind of sweet gravy made from Loviscol cough syrup, flour, starch and meat drippings. That, or you could subsitute Loviscol for honey in tea. They have the same consistency anyway.

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My LJ password is extraordinarily hard to type! God. It's the only password I commonly use that my fingers refuse to memorize. It definitely meets all the requirements for a strong password.

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I've an acquaintance who is constantly asking me questions similar to the following:

• Keep my poplar snare or buy the 14" Zebrawood that the guy on the list is selling?


• 16" K Custom Dark crash or 16" Paper Thins?


• Sell my New Beats and buy 13" K/Zs?

I just keep replying, "Well, have you tried em out? Which of em do you like better?" Each and every time. I don't know why he hasn't yet gotten it that it doesn't matter what anyone else thinks about aesthetic questions like these. It's not me that's going to play these instruments.

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Yesterday's episode of "Who Would You Rather Do?":

coworker: Joe Black ... o si Norman Black?
opts: Syempre si Norman Black!
coworker: Mahilig ka pala sa egoy. O sige. Si Norman Black ... o si Billy Ray Bates?
opts: Craaap. Si Billy Ray Bates! Hmm. Ano nga bang itsura ni Billy Ray Bates? Saan nga ba sya dati?
coworker: Import sya ng Ginebra. May medium na 'fro, tapos may sweatband sa noo.
opts: Aaah. Puwede. Puwede.

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Time was when I used to stagger out of Club Dredd at 3am, crawl into the laboratory by 5 and sleep beside a jug of hydrofluoric acid, with a canister of cesium capsules on a shelf a couple of feet above my head, with a physics class in two hours. Or perhaps exhausted, sleepless, badly scratched up and drunk at 11am, with a long drive and half a day of rehearsals right after lunch. Recently I've been dragging myself home at 6 worrying about whether some nameless committee several time zones ahead of me will find a way to break the code I spent all day debugging: the javascript that computes the value-added taxes and shipping fees on wholesale orders of flour and olives and feta cheese.

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Helen plays at the Liquid Jane album launch. 10pm onwards at Big Sky Mind.

and also:

Drum n Bass night at Kampai:



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