time for some recs

last.fm has not given me a headache in the last few weeks. recently, i noticed that some tracks kept appearing in my scrobbles list and they were last played on the ipod over a month ago. so i had to reset the play count on the ipod itself. wonder if it'll work. and the site was recently overhauled, and is sporting a clean, new look. methinks every audiophile should seriously think about going with this application. i love how ne-yo is slowly creeping up into my top 5 artists. lolz.

speaking of favourite artists, no. 6 is (surprise, surprise) smashing pumpkins. i loved this band since today, but i found that i'm not that big a fanatic because i only like about half their songs - at least the half that i'm familiar with. i recently added their greatest hits album into the pod, and with some luck managed to single out this gem. it's called try, try, try.

the top song in my ipod is ne-yo's closer, followed closely by because of you. now that is a big surprise, though the playlist cleanup may be partly to blame, because i usually don't go rnb when i could go alternative. a few spots down is this lovely depressing song by little bit, called forget about me. it asks the question: why don't you love me? which coincidentally is a question i've been asking in my mind a few short years ago toward a certain person. at the risk of being accused of sour graping, i still want to know the answer. dammit.

i think i regret not paying more attention to lifehouse's concert here, based on the few reviews i bothered to look at. but this song from who we are on constant repeat more than made up for my loss.

i finally succumbed and bought the first book in stephenie meyer's twilight series. i lent it to my dad and he promptly returned it - that's how easy it was to read. i haven't tried reading it yet; i think i want to savor it and save it for a rainy night. also, i didn't want to be interrupted while daydreaming about robert pattinson i'm in the middle of an exciting part.

oh, and i bought tracey thorn's (everything but the girl) solo album from last year. it sounds just like ebtg without ben watt. whatever.

---

to the theatre we go (but only for now)

best buddy mike has been bugging me about watching the farewell run of avenue q since more than a month ago. because i suddenly have all this free time, i agreed. but we didn't finalize the schedule until last thursday, and i had to get the tickets too (hmf). so despite the threat of heavy rains last saturday, i got on the very convenient bus going to cubao and got off at the ayala mrt station two hours later, eagerly anticipating the afternoon ahead.

i'm very tempted to expound on my inconsistent appreciation of the theatre, but i won't. suffice to say, i enjoy witty comedies, and this play really delivered it for me. i think i loved that i was a part of this audience. we all laughed at the right spots, and clapped after almost every song. the intimate setting of the carlos p. romulo auditorium certainly helped. not to mention the actors were very good, especially the puppeteers. i regret not seeing rachel alejandro portray her award-winning part (yes, she won a best actress award for this last year!) but i think carla guevarra-laforteza was very good at it. many people agree with me too. the thing that struck me most is the hip swing she does when she's playing lucy t. slut. it was the precarious mix of subtle and obvious that puts the extra ooomph into the character, and it's how you know you're dealing with a seasoned theatre actor (miss saigon, duh). and lei's favorite actor joel trinidad is just surprisingly endearing as nicky and trekkie monster - his voice is so versatile. aiza seguerra deserves to go to the singapore run to reprise the gary coleman role too. if for some bizarre twist of fate i'll end up in singapore in october, i'm definitely watching the show there.

one minor gripe, though, is frenchie dy's oriental accent. she's wavering between the chinese "l" and the japanese "r" and i think her character was supposed to be japanese. though as i haven't seen the script i'm not sure if it was not written that way. but she's cute, and christmas eve is adorable.

it wasn't for immature audiences though. besides the f and s words peppered throughout the script and the in-your-face references to subjects not for children's consumption, such as cough*porn*cough, one has to be very widely-read or updated on various subjects to fully appreciate the pop culture references. but i hope people won't think i'm too weird for being amused at the idea of two puppets doing the dirty. lol.

and because it's categorized as a musical, it has several songs in its aresenal that were very singable and easy to recall. my favorite would have to be it sucks to be me/but only for now (same song, different lyrics) followed closely by schadenfreude (snaps to aiza for the spelling lesson). mike, i'm still waiting for the soundtrack...

it's too late for anybody else to watch it on my recommendation, since the farewell run just ended, but do catch it if you're in singapore in october. and maybe i'll catch it if atlantis decides to put it up again later. but i'll need to get cheaper seats this time.

other reviews: by anton diaz

for further reading:
avenue q official site
avenue q on wikipedia