scorsese + nicholson = match made in violent heaven

Mr. Scorsese has outdone himself. Again. Well…ok. Maybe he’s gone a tad bit conservative. The man is growing old, cut him some slack. Sure it’s not as gruesome as The Godfather, or Goodfellas or as disturbing as Taxi Driver but damn, the man has still got it. Sure it’s more funny than bloody, but from the beginning of the movie where you see Jack’s silhoutte profile while The Stones Gimme Shelter is being played (too bad it isn't part of the soundtrack), to the shooting at the 344 elevator, there was Scorsese’s name written all over the screen. So ok now we know that he either does Italian or Irish. Just one of the two. It’s nothing short of spectacular, from the hilarious lines to the amazing soundtrack. Turns out the Floyd’s Comfortably Numb is the version of Roger Waters with no less than Van Morrison.

Like, “you get your period yet?”. Damn, I never even knew that cranberry juice is a good diuretic when you have your period. They couldn’t have cast a much better actor than Jack. And did you see the tie? The robe? No one could ever pull the leopard print off other than Jack. The guy never fails to crack me up every freakin time! Scorsese and Nicholson is overwhleming enough. Add Damon, de Caprio, Wahlberg, Baldwin and Sheen -- now that is wicked. But every single cast was amazing. Watch the movie. Buy the soundtrack. An adrenalin-induced Sunday from your armchair. 

that's what FRIENDS are for

It’s been almost a week without cable. You have no idea how much of a torment that is for a couch potato like me, having my life ruled by the Food Network, Star World’s Monday Night Laughs, Seinfeld and Friends re-runs, Amazing Race, Letterman and O’Brien, Sunday CSI marathon, ETC, 2nd Avenue and Deutsche World. Sundays without Barefoot Contessa is like a day without rice. I know it’s such a bratty thing to say having had electricity since Thursday midnight but having no cable has never made me feel so deprived. Everytime I go home, all I have to do is look at the lobby guard to get a default respond, “ma’am, wala pa pong cable eh.”. I bet the poor guy feels awfully sorry for me everytime. Apart from the drinking and the drinking and the drinking after work since going home has never been so futile, I end up blissfully drowning myself with all the friends dvd’s I have, all 10 glorious seasons. Pathetic as it may sound, I practically “friends” myself to sleep. It’s become a verb that I virtually live off it. Strangely enough, I find myself laughing like I'm seeing the episodes for the first time, but with me mouthing every word.   Although of course, it goes without saying that I’ve probably seen each episode at least, AT LEAST 4 times. Except for those that I enormously love --- thanksgivings, flashbacks, “messers become the messees”, which I’ve seen at least 10 times. I don’t even need to put the reasons why I’m dreadfully fixated to it on paper. Friends is on while I surf online, while I do iPhoto slideshows, while I eat, while I take a shower, while I fix my clothes for work the next day, while I flirt on sms, while I read On the Road, while I look outside the window, while I reminisce on the other episodes. I’m sick. Very very sick. Sky Cable’s just gonna have to reimburse all the shrink fees I’m about to spend. Cable better resume soon before I start getting myself a duck. 

making myself feel good, whilst in a (supposed) rut

So ok, I turned 33 last Tuesday. Big deal. I still miss the same things i missed 10, 15 years ago. I still listen to the same bunch of music I listened to 10, 15 years ago. I've lost important people, but met a lot of new ones since then. It's July 28, 3:08 am. Few of my really good friends were at my place last Tuesday. I made beef stew and mash for dinner. It was nice. It turned out to be a really lovely evening. Earlier, some of them were here again. All of us just fell in love with that indian coffee I'm soon gonna run out of. I decided to have whisky. It's been a while, having a long and loyal affair with rum coke and cerveza negra. i have forgotten how good whisky tastes like. pat metheny's last train home playing right now. yes, that's what i'm thinking. i can imagine the speed of the cymbals on this song is as fast as jack kerouac typing on the road on the teletype paper, almost without stopping. I'm amazed how my life actually turned out to be. I can't believe I have this job, these amazing people around me, these awesome songs on my iTunes. The stuff I have. The things I need. The things I want. Several things I still aspire for but what the hell. It'll happen. I'm amazed by how things just fell into place. Just by doing what you think is right, and what would make the people you care for really happy. That's all there is to it, really. Bliss is no science. No set of rules and guidelines. You think about the people you love, make them happy and happiness will just present itself to you. I forget it sometimes. Most of the the time actually. But I get moments like these. Alone at home, drinking whisky, smoking and listening to pat metheny. Then clarity, like lightning, hits you big time. Then you get the big picture. As big as the cosmos. And all the issues of everyday life become these little planets and stars. They become irrelevant in the greater scheme of the universe. And my dad was right. Carl Sagan was right. I can't even begin to explain how all these things in my life overwhelm me. In a fuckin good way. Where I am, what I've become, the family that I have and the whole extended family dynamics, the people I've grown to love and care for, the people who've made me laugh. It's amazing. Fuckin amazing. For all those times I've cried -- shallow reasons and otherwise. To whisky and pat metheny. To love and people lost. To love and people gained. I don't think I'm ready to ride my last train home just yet.

my official class reunion soundtrack

Well I was watching this talk show the other day
And on it there was this guy and he was saying
When you let other people tell you what’s right
When you leave your instinct and your own truth behind he said
That’s a virus of the mind. that’s a virus of the mind
I guess it’s kind of like losing your sight; for a
Second you think that they might be right, and it
Feeds the doubts you have inside, and it
Almost starts to feel like a crime
To follow your own rhythm and rhyme
Yeah I’m pretty happy living in my own sweet time I’m pretty happy
And I don’t need your virus of the mind
Well I went to this party thing last night
A lot of people I hadn’t seen in a long time
And they wanted to know about my life,
But making me feel like it wasn’t quite right
Like where’s your kids and where’s your car?
I said I don’t have either but I have a guitar
And I ended up feeling like I was a freak
So I found some wine and something to eat
And I talked to a dog to pass the time
Told myself I’m doing fine,
It’s just a virus of the mind
It’s just a virus of the mind
Yeah I’m pretty happy living in my own sweet time I’m pretty happy
And I don’t need your virus of the mind
It’s in the deep of your soul
It’s on the tip of your tongue
It’s the feeling you get when you feel young
It’s in the sound of the beat
It’s in the base of your spine
It’s in your gut reaction, yeah every time
But they tell you what you should have,
They tell you who you should be
It’s in the picturesand ads and in the magazines
I’m kicking it off like a bug in the breeze
’cause is anyone out there inside me?
I said is anyone out there inside me?
I say is anyone?

goosefuckinbumps every single time

CONCERT FOR NEW YORK CD
THE WHO
Who Are You (Live)
John Cusack with Heroes Introduction

One of the best songs from one of the best bands in the world.

dad never fails to surprise

Heroin
Velvet Underground
(Reed)

I don't know just where I'm going
But I'm gonna try for the kingdom, if I can
'Cause it makes me feel like I'm a man
When I put a spike into my vein
And I'll tell ya, things aren't quite the same
When I'm rushing on my run
And I feel just like Jesus' son
And I guess that I just don't know
And I guess that I just don't know
I have made the big decision
I'm gonna try to nullify my life
'Cause when the blood begins to flow
When it shoots up the dropper's neck
When I'm closing in on death
And you can't help me not, you guys
And all you sweet girls with all your sweet silly talk
You can all go take a walk
And I guess that I just don't know
And I guess that I just don't know
I wish that I was born a thousand years ago
I wish that I'd sail the darkened seas
On a great big clipper ship
Going from this land here to that
In a sailor's suit and cap
Away from the big city
Where a man can not be free
Of all of the evils of this town
And of himself, and those around
Oh, and I guess that I just don't know
Oh, and I guess that I just don't know
Heroin, be the death of me
Heroin, it's my wife and it's my life
Because a mainer to my vein
Leads to a center in my head
And then I'm better off than dead
Because when the smack begins to flow
I really don't care anymore
About all the Jim-Jim's in this town
And all the politicians makin' busy sounds
And everybody puttin' everybody else down
And all the dead bodies piled up in mounds
'Cause when the smack begins to flow
Then I really don't care anymore
Ah, when the heroin is in my blood
And that blood is in my head
Then thank God that I'm as good as dead
Then thank your God that I'm not aware
And thank God that I just don't care
And I guess I just don't know
And I guess I just don't know