Serendipity Sunday Sh#t!!! (Who Sucked and Who Rocked)

It was Sunday, and initially it seemed like another lazy afternoon for me with the boob tube. But the good Lord has different plans on people and events that I'll be witnessing that day, so here I go...

I have no idea where chance will lead a lost mind of mine (serendipity at it's best!!). I happened to be surfing the channels, and when I came to see this music video of a local rap act, a line from thier currently hyped song continued on playing and replaying in my head, just like a broken record.

"...be my FIRST LADY..."

"...and have my FIRST BABY..."

Yeah, baby...yeahhh!!!
Man, that was the LOUSIEST lyrics I ever heard in my entire life, since Aqua's "Barbie Girl." That was sooooo freakingly laaaame!!!

I realized that we, people in the Philippines never got out of April Boy's empire of doom. And it sucked. But I chose to be, and, will never be a part of that Pinoy POP Empire. I preferred being an outcast. It's better for me hearing those Ethnic beats and rituals of our minority brothers in the Northern and Southern Philippines than torture myself in what they want to 'brand' as music mainstream.

I have nothing against rappers, (I think Eminem's cool!!!) but I prefer eating Bagoong with hilaw na mangga anytime than doing a lyrics like that. And my verdict is:

Cool Factor: 0%
Poetic Level: Kiddie

Sorry if I'm crushing your hearts, you "Itsumo" lovers, but it's just my opinion. The song appears more like a nursery rhyme, if it were not dubbed in beats, keyboards, and the chick's leading vocals. As a consolation, the song and the sound is catchy, and it was even nominated as a best rap song by a local Sunday noontime show's Music Awards.
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Moving on, I got to see some basketball action in the UAAP on Studio 23. The UP Fighting Maroons won their 4th consecutive game, unbeaten in the second round of eliminations, and my time was definitely not wasted. The fight is definitely creeping back to the Maroons, and suddenly the once scrappy team that we usually know became fighters with an attitude.

I don't care now if they wont make it to the Final Four. Making a run in UAAP is not that easy---especially if your team is from UP. The last time they made it was during the 1997 Season. I was a college freshman then. But last Sunday, I feel more thankful than ever since I got a quality time with the television, and all of my Maroon-bashings on the http://www.peyups.com/ forum (as chillicarnage) has just payed off. I proved that the "courtside medic" in me was real.

They are playing more as a team now, they pass the ball just right, and hitting those medium range and point-blank shots. Except for the free throws(due to lack of practice and emphasis on weights-- I think), their overall field goal percentage is surprisingly high. This is certainly good news to the UP community.
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The best part of the day is watching the "Treasure Planet" on Disney Channel. Why? First, I love animations. Second, because after hearing a lousy song earlier, I happened to hear again the best soundtrack of my life. John Rzeznik of the Goo Goo Dolls is surely one of my favorite songwriters, along with Kurt Cobain, John Lennon, Tom Petty, Eminem, and Eddie Vedder.

Though I can only share the lyrics of that song here, you can try hearing it through http://www.napster.com/ (yes, it's now legal!!) and check if it kicked some a$$ or not. For me, there's no question. Maybe because I can relate with it since it tells something about vindication, about proving wrong the other people's judgment on you. The song reminds me to stay focused, to stand on my own feet, to do what I believe I need to accomplish. It reminds me to never lose hope. Never give up. Whether it's about that beautiful woman of my dreams, an education, career, family, or simply things about my pathetic life.
And because it's definitely NOT a lame song.


I'm Still Here
by John Rzeznik


I am a question to the world,
Not an answer to be heard.
All a moment that's held in your arms.
And what do you think you'd ever say?
I don't listen anyway…
You ignore me,
And I’ll never be what you want me to be.

And what do you think you'd understand?
I'm a boy, now a man.
You can take me and throw me away.
And how can you learn what's never shown?
Yeah, you stand here all alone.
They don't know me 'cause
I'm not here.

And I want a moment to be real,
Wanna touch things I don't feel,
Wanna hold on and feel I belong.
And how can the world want me to change,
They’re the ones that stay the same.
The don’t know me,
'Cause I’m not here.

And you see the things they never see
All you wanted, I can be
Now you know me, and I'm not afraid
And I wanna tell you who I am
Can you help me be a man?
They cant break me
As long as I know who I am

And I want a moment to be real,
Wanna touch things I don't feel,
Wanna hold on and feel I belong.
And how can the world want me to change,
They’re the ones that stay the same.
They can’t see me,
But I’m still here.

They can’t tell me who to be,
‘Cause I’m not what they see.
And the world is still sleepin’,
While I keep on dreamin’ for me.
And they’ll want to just whispers,
And lies that I’ll never believe.

And I want a moment to be real,
Wanna touch things I don't feel,
Wanna hold on and feel I belong.
And how can the world want me to change,
They’re the ones that stay the same.
I’m the one now,
‘Cause I’m still here.
I’m the one,
‘Cause I’m still here.
I’m still here.
I’m still here.
I’m still here.



From the worst, to the good, to the best. That was how I describe my day last Sunday.

Prologue to "The Blood Ronin Saga"

The Monk's Tale

The arid wind chants through the atmosphere of North-Eastern Tibetan highlands as they accompany an old Shaolin monk who has been travelling for 3 days without rest. He felt his backpack going lighter in his journey, making him conclude that searching for food and water will come sooner than he expected.

As he continued on walking his journey, he smelled something that disturbed his senses. Covering his nose and searching the foul stench's source, he finally came to a heap of carcass, seemingly from dead horses as their mangled skins and skeletons showed that a group of carnivorous beasts just feasted on them probably the past night.

As he walked closer, and closer to the rotting heap of dead animals' remains, he saw a blood writing on a side of a very huge boulder of rock nearby...

The monk stares at the writing, and it took him a while to conclude that it is written in ancient Japanese texts.

"Hah!!! Japs have no reason of venturing here in our lands," exclaims the monk, as he reached for the rock and studied the writing, believing that he can read it.

"Gotta try this crap... Bah, I'm no Monk if I cannot read the language of Oriental Empires!!!"

As he looked on every character as guided by his twitching, soiled and aging hands, he utters his initial reading;

"From the ashes... of the fallen empire..."

" ...they bacame..."

"...wanderers..."

"...waiting... "

He tried to analyze the last two characters as he examined them closer and tried to stroke, as if tracing the way the characters have been written. Then he finally able to connect its meaning to the former reading;

"...waiting to be awaken... "

"...again. "

He read it again, saying the whole phrase;

"From the ashes of the fallen empire, they became wanderers..."

"...waiting to be awaken, again."

Standing up and scratching his head, he still cannot understand what it all means. Sure, the Tokugawa Empire has been destroyed, but it still thrives to his day. Though he can only hear news about that island and it's humble empire in the East coast, they are more of rumors than facts to be taken seriously from the Arab traders who usually pass near the Temples during Spring.

He was still trying to think about it, when he heard a condor's cry from above.

A thick liquid substance fell and hit him right smack in his face.

Given by its color, texture and more importantly the smell; the monk knows what really hit him.

It's NO bird shit.

It's blood.
...

cast of characters: (designed using HeroMachine V2.0 from www.UGO.com)
the monk:http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v65/nudarion/My%20Artworks/using%20the%20Hero%20Machine/chimonk.jpg
the samurai:http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v65/nudarion/My%20Artworks/using%20the%20Hero%20Machine/br-final.jpg
the avian/faerie:http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v65/nudarion/My%20Artworks/using%20the%20Hero%20Machine/yoni-final.jpg