I Audio Feel Ya Audiophilia...

Audiophile - a person in pursuit of the perfect quality of sound, usu. desperate enough to spend gobs of money on quality sound systems to vintage phonographs.

Why did I choose to blog about audiophiles? Because I have the same knack for quality. No, I'm not the guy who is just in pursuit of Beats, I am also after the sound of the song itself like most others.

This doesn't mean I am an audiophile. First of all, I don't have the money. Next, I don't have the time. Lastly, I don't have the amount of fucks to give necessary for me to enjoy it. Though my ears may be sensitive, it doesn't mean they are not open.

Call me an anti-audiophile which is completely different from an audiophobe. An audiophobe fears sound and would completely cut off his ears faster than Peter did with a Roman soldier. An anti-audiophile is also not to be mistaken for a guy who hate audiophiles.

My definition of an anti-audiophile is someone who loves any form of sound but has a weird preference to a deliberate assault on the eardrums. Think of guys who like metal, BROstep (not to be mistaken for dubstep,. more on that on later blogs), lo-fi, experimental, and the like. Of course, with metal, hard rock, hardcore, screamo, death metal and what not, it's usually the sheer emotion, and brutal frankness of the lyrics & message, coupled with the adrenaline-defying guitar shreds, and heavy drum poundage. For others that are pure music, and no lyrics, well, guys like me are in it for DAT SOUND; the sound of pure angst, rage, anxiety, and hatred in the world in which we translate to indefinite bliss and escape. Or maybe, we just have a different ear.

One that can understand the chaos. One that can appreciate a blatant disregard for noise and distortion. It's gotten to the point where I enjoy the sounds of construction workers, microphone feedbacks, bass guitar slides, violin shrieks, human violence, creaky furniture, ballpen springs, basement generators, motorcycle and automobile engines (who wouldn't like the roar of a good chopper or supercar once in a while), wub-wubs, clanks, beeps, whirrs, sprangs, booms, and the other cacophony around us. Other than being a total stress reliever for me, it also inspires me to be myself in a way.

Take these which have always been my de-stressing tracks. Ventolin is a drug which has the unfortunate side-effect of tinnitus a.k.a. ringing in the ears.

And let's try this one from Mr. Tobin, made out of lions and faulty stringed instruments.

Lastly, pure dubstep filth made out of a chainsaw.

One person's noise is another man's eargasm. This is just my way of saying music is subjective. Of course, this is only one side of my musical tastes, you'll see more of 'em in a bit. I need my daily dose of noise now.

A Whole New World

It must've been some time since I blogged. Time to figure out how this new interface works...

CHALLENGES ACCEPTED

You remember this post? Something did happen. Something too depressing for words... but mostly because it is promised to be kept secret. Time went slower, walks became longer, summer became hotter, and shit became way too bad to be real. I would like to think it was some sort of April Fool's gimmick. I lost a roommate. College claimed its first victim.

Surely, it'll take some getting used to but I guess it's time for me... rather, us, to change. To be more productive and pursue what we aimed to do together: Blue Hour, Radio.Active, The Final Score, our indie video series, novels, and whatevers. Wherever you are, make us proud out there! We'll be trying our best to make you proud of us too. What matters is that all lessons are learned... by all of us. Heck, I might even be taking this harder than the guy himself. Here I am, eating myself alive yet again with the past and his good friend nostalgia.

All hope is not lost. But for now I shall

lie down in darkness. I feel somehow... destroyed.

(22) Days of Summer

So yeah, me and my big mouth are about to list down the things I did during my 3 weeks of summer vacation:

1. Made a music video for my roommates' extra credit for Theology.
2. Booked an online flight, messed up with the dates.
3. Boarded *** at about **:** *.M. on ***** **, 20** en-route to ***.
4. Slept for 8 HOURS STRAIGHT in the flight.
5. Felt that "AMERICAN COLD" I've been missing so much.
6. Ate at a Japanese restaurant. (Okazu Ya)
7. Slept over my cuz's place.
8. Ate at a Vietnamese restaurant. (I forgot the restaurant...)
9. Bought a CD of Florence + The Machine's Ceremonials for...
10. Played some Borderlands, Rainbow 6: Vegas 2, and Generals: Zero Hour co-op!
11. Went to the Palm Sunday mass at a Catholic church. (Palms here have only ONE STALK.)
12. Noticed each person has their own songbook and that responses here are slightly different. (e.g. The Lord be with you... And with your spirit.)
13. Ate at a Middle Eastern restaurant. (Filafil)
14. Discovered that California's number one foreign residents are Indian.
15. Discovered  that there are more Filipinos here than Mexicans and Chinese people.
16. Installed an antivirus and updated Windows.
17. Discovered how freakin' fast the internet is here!
18. Exploited number 17 for the rest of our stay.
19. Ate American. (Fuddruckers)
20. Ate Filipino food at relative's place where we're staying (i.e. EVERYDAY!)
21. Went to the core of APPLE at Cupertino and got myself an iPod Classic. (No iPads for me, thank you very much...)
22. Ate at a Mexican restaurant. (Rubio's)
23. Attended Maundy Thursday service.
24. Had the Sacrament of Reconciliation at Good Friday.
25. Ate at an Italian restaurant. (Olive Garden)
26. Attended the 7 last words and Good Friday service.
27. Survived numbers 1-26 without eating meat due to Holy Week. (Well, except for April 3: Carl Jr's... I was weak.) Challenge accepted...
Breakdown:
*March 30 (A Friday) - Japanese (Salmon, Sushi, Raw Shrimp, and Miso Soup)
*March 31 - Vietnamese (Beef Plate with Pho-Hoa) Not counted yet...
*April 1 - Middle-Eastern (Lamb Plate with Hummus) Still doesn't count...
*April 2 - American (Salmon burgers, peanuts, salad) It begins...
*April 3 - Outlet Deli (Avocado, Mushroom sandwich with cheese.) and yeah Carl Jr's. soon after... STAINED
*April 4 - At home all-day (Sinigang na hipon, Bagels, Salmon, Tinapa, Mixed Vegetables)
*April 5 - Mexican (FISH TACOS) In your face!
*April 6 - Italian (Seafood pasta and Minestrone) So far... still cleansed.
*April 7 - VICTORY!, BIRTHDAY!, BUFFET! Arguments are now invalid.
*April 8 - BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION OF UNCLE! Challenge completed with minimum casualties.
*All other meals were at home and mainly consisted of either mini-donuts, seafood, bagels, candy or vegetables.
28. Had birthday at Berkeley docks (H.S. Lordships)
29. Got secondhand BEATS! (Close enough.)
30. Purchased a pre-order of Borderlands 2!
31. Attended Easter Vigil which was combined with Baptism and Confirmation of recently converted Catholics.
Breakdown:
7:00 PM - Arrived at Church
*Realized it starts at 8 so waited for an hour but got the best seats in the house.
8:00 PM - Lights out, people out, candles lit
8:15 PM - Get back inside for the Easter vigil proper.
8:30 PM - Let there be light! Mass starts...
9:00 PM - Baptism of 33 PEOPLE starts... (Each person is drenched in 3 pitchers full of water, what a show!)
10:00 PM - Confirmation of 15 PEOPLE starts... (So... they aren't slapped in the face after the oil. Back in my country...)
10:30 PM - Mass resumes...
11:00 PM - Mass finally ends.

*In short, 5 hours in the Church! Memorable holy week, vacation, and birthdays indeed!

32. Went back home. Okay...

Oh Snap...

I wonder when will be the moment I finally snap; when some random event triggers an integral change in my very behavior, beliefs, mindset, and personality?

Radio Active - FM Life

Me and my big mouth are back, blogging at 7:45 am, slightly shaken from recent memories but still holding on to music. So far, after a few reflections on previous endeavors in music, I will pursue another project. Don't worry Blue Hour is still going on as planned.

It's about time I stop reflecting on life through soundtracks and start enjoying it. That's right, soundtracks will be on hold at the moment. I wanna make electro music, something that has always been my top priority since the first album I made in college. Music that ranges from electro to house to trance to dubstep to drum n' bass. So far I've got a handful of tracks I'm still fine-tuning to perfection. The project's name is Radio Active since it sounds like a pretty party-pumping name to me, besides the fact that I am also partly a chemistry student. The debut album title will be FM Life.

Why FM Life? First of all, it's a clever wordplay for FML (Fuck My Life). We all admit there's a time in our life when we realize we're no longer virgins because we already get fucked by life (taken from Kurt Cobain, I think). So instead of letting it rape you in the backside, why don't you try fighting back? Struggle with life as you do the endless dance of fucking each other up and see who gets the last laugh. Like sex, it doesn't only require effort, love, and passion, it also introduces desire, lust, and pleasure which are notable traits of all humans; our animal instinct, if you will.

Next, it also means frequency modulation such as FM radio stations. Techinically, FM conveys information over a carrier wave by varying its instantaneous frequency (Wikipedia). It's something like us varying our frequency to adapt to our carrier wave which is life in order to convey a particular message. Either that fancy interpretation or it's just because FM (Life) fits with Radio (Active).

Lastly, most of the songs are gonna be slightly different from typical electro songs yet still have the feel of being electro. Like an FM radio station, you'll never know what you'll hear next along with all the static and intercepted transmissions. Take for example a rockstep song (rock-dubstep), an electro song from various noises and bleeps, an acoustic drum & bass track, and many more hopefully.

So you ask how I'm doing? I'm doing fan-fucking-tastic right here. But remember my famous words, "Don't expect much from me, expect more from yourself."

Déjà Vu Debut

Me and my big mouth are back standing on the far edge of the weekend; ready to jump to the heights of the incoming week. This weekend I attended a debut of a friend who I haven't come in contact with for quite some time. The fact that I got invited was already an honor. The memories that overflowed my mind during the party was what made me wonder; what really happened?

The debutante is an ineffable, expressive, and unique woman. She's a movie buff, unconventional thinker, and a bookworm to say the least. I would not go deeper in her description for honestly, even if we have spent so much time in the past together in our circle of friends, I do not know that much about her. One thing's for sure, she's a person of class.

With an opener of prayers ranging across all major religions, this ain't your ordinary debut. You also got a well-executed and spine-tingling monologue from "The Despair of Judas" as an opening act.

Me and my three roomies were all seated antisocially in table 5; separated from the others. I guess we're on a league of our own. Yup, the food was nice and so was the sheer sense of nostalgia from the 1920's theme.

As pictures of her flashed on the screen, I started to realize how much she changed the lives of so many awesome people out there including me. I had a taste of philosophy, a fair share of movies, and some interesting talks with her.

Furthermore, in a personal level, she inspired me to do what I do in music and blogging. My mind screamed self-expression and standing out after meeting her. In fact, the movies she introduced to me pretty much sums up what time with her is like. From the eccentricity of "Science of Sleep" to the thought-inducing "Mindwalk," I always thought I got an idea of what she was like; the way I always did after meeting any person back then. Yup, I admit I am quite a judger back then. Nonetheless, she is very interesting.

In fact, I made an album back then to sort of symbolize what I've gone through in our small set of friends. An album of "firsts"; first party, first love, first regret, first dance, you name it. It was all composed in the key of A, as a sort of small tribute to her, plus, the key of A sounds awesome. I never did finish that album after realizing how crappy my work was back then. That's what you get when you ask a person of class's opinion about it. It's all right though. A little criticism can go a long way in improvement.

Anyway, as the 18 quotes and scenes went on (a different take on the 18 candles and roses), I wanted to remember how she's like. The heart-warming messages from all her closest friends jogged my memory a bit until I vividly remembered everything my roomie told me about my crush on her back then. I thought of it as being young, blinded, and foolish. He said it was the best inspiration which helped me become who I am today.

I remember spending all night talking in the prayer room until almost 2 in the morning about personal stories and random shizz about our lives. I remember eating together every dinner. I remember celebrating our birthdays and Christmas together. I remember chatting on Facebook when we were busy. I remember the fights and immediate disbanding of it all. I now realize we're all just busy and incapable of having the fun we used to have. It seems we have our own paths now.

One of her roommates in the 18 quotes said her message and suddenly welled up in the end of her speech after much reminiscing about the sleepless nights they used to spend with each other. It kinda made me tear a bit inside. Well, I kinda miss when the seven of us used to hang together. But who am I to impose a reunion when others might not have the same view as mine.

It's the oldest you've ever been and the youngest you'll ever be. Seems like a pretty cliche thing to say on a birthday but what the heck. It kinda brought my heart in a washing machine and left it out to dry for a moment. I'm in the drying phase right now. I just feel so heavy-hearted about all of the past events. Heck, it even went as far as back in my childhood when I realized how little I have been doing in my life.

I now reviewed the album I made in freshmen year with critical ears. I was really "something" back then. I then reviewed everything I made after that (Jazztech, Piece of Pi, LP). It was an evolution. I knew I needed to continue my work in music.

I'll just leave myself with these words from good ol' Dr. Seuss. "Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened."

Along with that, a tune I can't seem to get off my chest. "Melancholy sky, you made me blue. Still hanging on, there's nothing I can do... not this time." - Goldfrapp

"When you get déjà vu, it just means you're on the right track." Hopefully...
- taken from a Paranormal 101 talk back then