Wrong Introductions Are Embarrassing

I did a gig in Metro Lounge in Davao over the holidays. It was an unplanned but fun gig attended by my cousins since they were there for the Christmas season as well. 

I went on and played a few minutes and then the introduction was made and all of a sudden, the guy with the mic said something like, "all the way from Embassy Superclub in Manila!" You guys should've seen my face! Not because it's embarrassing to be affiliated with Embassy/Encore but I just didn't like the idea that someone there who's familiar with Embassy might think I'm trying to sell myself as an Embassy DJ or something, which I'm not. Name dropping that way isn't my style at all. 

I'm very conscious about that and yes it may just be some mistake by the announcer but the fact that it was announced really made me embarrassed about the whole thing. I wanted to hide under the DJ table.

I've worked so hard to get where I am now and it's not "me" to pretend just because I'm out of town and people won't find out. The world is so small and that's exactly why I felt bad about what happened. 

So to whoever reads this from Davao, who was there that night, I'm not from Embassy. It's great to say that I've played there a few times already but that's different from the understanding that I'm one of their residents or am endorsed by the club. Magagalit si Martin Pulgar hehe (Hi Marts).

Cy

Some Important Info For Car Owners

Car A/C (Air Conditioning) MUST READ!!! 
Please do NOT turn on A/C as soon as you enter the car. 



Open the  windows after you enter your car and turn ON the AC after a couple of minutes.

Here's why: 

According to a research, the car dashboard, sofa, air freshener emit Benzene, a Cancer causing toxin

(carcinogen - take time to observe the smell of heated plastic in your car).

In addition to causing cancer, Benzene poisons your bones, causes anemia and reduces white blood cells..

Prolonged exposure will cause Leukemia, increasing the risk of cancer.

Can also cause miscarriage.

Acceptable Benzene level indoors is 50mg per sq.ft. A car parked indoors with windows closed will contain 400-800 mg of Benzene.

If parked outdoors under the sun at a temperature above 60 degrees F, the Benzene level goes up to 2000-4000 mg, 40 times the acceptable level.

People who get into the car, keeping windows closed will inevitably inhale, in quick succession, excessive amounts of the toxin.

Benzene is a toxin that affects your kidney and liver.. What's worse, it is extremely difficult for your body to expel this toxic stuff.

So friends, please open the windows and door of your car - give time for interior to air out -dispel the deadly stuff - before you enter.

Upgrading My Car Head Unit... aka radio/stereo/player...

My car is an old cat. '97 to be exact. So it's expected that its head unit will be as old as it is and may show signs of wear and tear. It manifested itself to its full extent in 2009 when the volume knob gave out. 

Being practical about having to replace it, I went and looked for a replacement knob but the shop everyone suggested didn't have it so I had no choice anymore. I decided to just use an ipod with it using the tape converter thinking at least I can use the ipods volume control to still make the unit useable. I was happy with my solution. Ever since I was a kid, I learned to make do with what we had especially since times were tough on our family then. I enjoyed my solution until...

Dad flew in and borrowed the car. I forgot to tell him about the proper way to turn off the headlights because as I mentioned, the car's old, and it has its ways in its own way... ok there's a busted switch that I haven't replaced yet hehe

With that, he parked and didn't know that he left the headlights on. Long story short, it drained. When the batt's drained, power comes to zero. Now why is this important?

Alpine head units tend to pull its volume down to 0 once there's a power loss since it "forgot" it's last setting due to the loss of power delivered to the unit. Now remember my solution? No more. With volume in 0, the unit's rendered useless already. 

FAST FORWARD...

So I've been looking at a replacement and wanted it to be Alpine as well. It's soooo hard to look for alpine locally these days. I even asked for help from my auto buddies to let me know and that they did. 

My friend Ariane told me that he saw the unit he was recommending last year in a shop near my place so I took it. 

Brought it this afternoon and didn't think installation would be that long. It's all good though. It's no big deal. 

I was just a bit disappointed that despite having USB, an audio in, and bluetooth, I couldn't connect my ipod on the fly. I had to buy a cable (which I didn't), just to connect my ipod. I figured that the USB would do. I'm too digital anyway that I have other means to play music. So I'm going with a thumb drive into USB instead, or use the audio in and plug my ipod, or even just burn preselected mp3s onto CD since it can also read CD/MP3s. I realized when I got home that bluetooth was only for handsfree phonecalls, which is not a bad thing really. I was just expecting more like connecting ipod via bluetooth and controlling everything via the front panel but I guess that was asking too much and had it been the case, maybe it might've ended up being more expensive than it is. 

At the end of the day, I'm a happy man. Finally have my music back to rock the car during southern traffic...

All smiles for silverfilter :)

Cy

Blackie

Last few pics before sending it over to Manila. Took me more than a year before I could get it to where it belongs. Hope I could squeeze in whatever with all the expenses this year. Nakupow!

I present... Blackie... named after Eric Clapton's strat :)

Live A Now Life...

I admit, I sometimes tend to procrastinate on things. 

Over the holidays, I saw this shirt from my cousin which read, "I'll procrastinate later." I loved that shirt cuz it was witty and I've never seen one before. 

I've made that quality decision this year to be a "now" person and do what I can and not set it for later. It's funny how I decided to do all the things I have and listed it down in a to do list. It's been too overwhelming that my body suddenly showed its stress blisters once my mind recorded all my to do's. 

Blisters aside, I suggest that we all could make a little change in doing things now and not wait if you can do it sooner. I'm preaching to myself as well so we're all in this. No need for drastic changes. Small steps can go a long way. 

I never imagined I'll end up consistently blogging!

Cy

edrums!!! First Impressions...

Once I opened the box, it was so overwhelming to imagine the setup needed for the stand and the rest of the kit. It took me a full hour just to set it up whereas I can setup a typical acoustic kit in less than 10... maybe even 5!

There were tons of parts, joints, screws, etc but it's been a while since I put something together so it was a fun experience. 

Unfortunately, the whole kit was missing one screw so I'll have to go back to Perfect Pitch tomorrow to report it. 

I tried out the set a month back which was the main reason I got convinced in getting it... plus the research I did when I got home coz I really wanted it already but the price was no joke so I had to let days pass to think about it and decide wisely. I figured it would be very useful for work, recording, the band, and myself as I want to get back into drumming and loosen up my drumming joints since it's been a while since I played the drums seriously.

Goin back, after setup, I immediately got my headphones out to jam a bit then later got my ipod so I can jam with some tunes... 2 hours later, I still found myself drumming away. haha

I'm now back in front of the computer to report to you guys how it went. It was fun. 

I really hope drumming can be counted as good exercise with the sweating and the movement.

It's fun to be playing once again without thinking of any gig, project, or whatever behind the playing...  all for fun. All for the music.

Cy

09 Recap... I hope I can still remember...

In the interest of making at least 365 blog entries this 2010, here's what my 2009 was like as far as I can remember...

Lovecore - We had a BIG push this year with everything. We had our radio interviews and gigs. We also began shooting our music video and we released our first single, Walis Tambo. It's the year we received airplay for mainly 2 songs, Walis and Tikman. I believe we've created a little buzz this time around and it's just the beginning. We also had great progress with the album and we're just left with finishing the vocals early this yr. Don't worry, our 2nd album won't take as long.

silverfilter - Nothing as big as releasing my latest full length entitled Devotion. It was a great year for my silverfilter project in the release, promotions online and on the radio, as well as with shows and a mighty launch which was attended by friends. I also found myself on itunes and a couple more online retailers this year which was a big thing! I also started mixing down the upcoming album and I'm happy to announce that it will be out just in time for summer!

Work - as usual, I finished quite a number of ads this year which was fun. I also did the biggest project I've done in my professional career for Sonoton Germany. It was really a productive year now that I backtrack and remember. 

I also did the first ever Propellerhead sponsored music production workshop which was a success! It really was a big thing personally since I'm a Reason/Record user and being able to be the speaker for something that big really makes it one of the milestones not just in my music career but in my life in general. 

God's been truly truly faithful and He has poured in His blessings left and right and He keeps on telling me there's more.

Good thing is, it's only the beginning. Seriously. I'm gonna be exceeding all expectations this 2010! I PROMISE!!! God is in control!!!

Thank God for blogs... I get to remember stuff while writing it down haha

Cy

MMFF

Catching up on a day lacking a blog entry for the year hehe

I usually go out and watch as many movies as I can during the Metro Manila Film Festival. This year isn't any different. 

I was aiming initially to watch around 4-5 movies from the entries but so far, I only got around to watching 2. 

I'm no movie critic and I think I've mentioned that before since I like most movies but surprisingly, I didn't like Nobody But Juan at all. I had high hopes for it since it stars the king of comedy but even the king of comedy wasn't enough to make it worth the money. The movie didn't have any flow at all. It felt too choppy at times. There were some nice parts but not enough to carry the movie. At some point I actually felt all my relatives were bored by it. I don't even remember it anymore! It's sad since I'm a Dolphy fan and I used to watch his black and white movies when I was younger. Times have changed indeed...

I also saw Panday, which was at the other end of the spectrum. I liked it a lot. And for Philippine standards, the CG FX were good. Remember I said for Philippine standards :) Story had at least a proper flow. I remember even having those Panday tex cards when I was younger when it was still FPJ haha Anyway, the movie, as other people have also noticed had scenes which reminded them of famous epic movies like 300, Lord of The Rings, and others... Unfortunately, they didn't mean it positively. It was more like they copied some of the camera angles, scenes, etc... I don't know the proper term for it... cinematography I guess? Anyway, to be fair, it was still ok even if it may have had somehow copied some movies. The CG FX speaks for itself at least compared to those lousy green screen use of other movies I've watched over the years every xmas season. 

Tom I'll be heading out to watch at least 2 more and have myself entertained enough. All I want is to come out of the movie theater and say it was at least worth the time and money. Unfortunately, some of the Pinoy movies don't stand up to it yet. I'm not bashing Filipino movies coz if you even ask my friends, I actually support and go out and watch. I just hope we could improve more... 

and bring back the comedy movies of the 80s and 90s. I miss those pinoy comedies!

Cy

Still Catching Up On Delayed Blog Entries... Cars for now!

I still lack a lot of entries especially for the holidays but this particular entry is not to make up for it... YET. 

Since I am short of time at the time of writing, I'd like to talk about car names...

I'm not really the type who names everything. I don't even name my guitars, but it's funny how some of the cars I've driven over the years seem to get names from me. 

My first car was a '67 Mustang. It's with my dad now. It didn't have a name since I figured "Mustang" would DEFINITELY stand on its own hehe

I also then used to drive our family car which was a Lancer box type model. It didn't have a name... but if I were to give it a name today, it'd be "fleshy" since it was one of those weird "flesh" colored Lancers had back then. 

I then used another Lancer which was a '91 model. I grew up with that car and so far, it's the one who "witnessed" my growth. It also grew old with me that it eventually showed its age that's why I ended up calling him "Tuklap" coz of the chipping off of the paint. During college, we had its color changed so it was kinda distinct and even if it was a Lancer, which was pretty common, everybody knew that car and aside from being Tuklap, he was famously known as "CKG" from its plate number. I had a funny meaning for it using CKG as an acronym but I won't divulge it here coz it might come off weird if you don't know me personally hehehe

Currently, my car today, which is a Toyota Camry '97, is called "Chamy." I know it has the lamest name of all for a car but the night I was deciding which car to get, I made a joke (which most parts of it I already forgot) about getting the H from the Honda logo to join it to the Camry name since I was choosing between an Accord and a Camry. At the time of the joke, it was indeed funny. But now that I forgot why I ended up with "Chamy," I'm aware it's not funny at all hehe

I got a project car recently, which I got for a minor restoration project and I don't know what to call it honestly. I'm thinking of calling it "Blackie" since it's black and for it to have the same name as Eric Clapton's black stratocaster. Yeah I think I'll call him Blackie then... Good thing I blogged about this. I only remembered Blackie while typing! haha

Will post pics if I do find some :)

Cy

Happy new year again to everyone!

I'm keeping this short as to just maintain consistency on my daily blogs for the year. I'll discuss more in detail in the coming days. What I can say now is that i'm a new man and 2010 is gonna be the biggest year of my life so far in terms of career and direction. God's in control.

Cy