my baby's got the bends, we don't have any real friends

- radiohead, the bends

two of my regular morning companions are anjanette and vito. they're not from the office, nor are they my pet dogs (and i'm not looking for any in the near future, thank you). they're only the voice of non-reason in my head, especially when my earphones are plugged in and my mp3 player is in radio mode. welcome to my daily habit, the one i don't want to quit.

in the four years or so that the morning brew has been on air, i'd probably been listening for almost the same length of time. except for the time that they changed the station format and got eric to come on board temporarily... i guess it just proves that the jocks were the essence of the show. i'm rambling, i know. i've said all of this before, here. so anyway, vito came back and anjanette took over the news reporting duties. soon they got the show back on track, especially with the return of a much-loved segment, the morning brew playlist. and after almost two years, they brought back another popular segment, the morning brew cd archive. a segment i had been on twice in mylinda's time. and just this week, i renewed my acquaintance with vito when i came on board for the third time.

it's pretty obvious, i like my 15 minutes of fame. if i can stretch it to half an hour, so much better. talking about one of my favorite things -- music -- is definitely a bonus. another plus is the chance to finally put on board one of my top 5 albums of all time, from one of my top 5 bands of all time: the sophomore-jinx jinxer, radiohead's the bends.

like i said on air that day, radiohead is more than just that rocker knockoff creep (a song i hated, by the way). and they're not just this way cool band that is so introspective it gets weird, like they are in ok computer and the three albums since (or what i've heard so far from them... i got bored too soon). critics have heaped praises and the brits all but stood them up next to the beatles, but i also wonder: what's the big deal? maybe this album is about the most i can handle from them. but this is where people started treating them seriously, instead of as "just another rock band". there is beauty in transition.

the great thing about this outing was, i think i did make an impact. i remember this regular texter who thought the band is overrated, with all that hoopla about karma police and the other stuff. after he heard the first song (i picked just, one of the less recognizable singles), he might have been tempted to give the band another chance. most of the other messages were about wanting to hear my iron lung, but i thought that the album deserved to be exposed beyond the hit singles. besides, i was not passing up the chance to let people hear my favorite radiohead song, black star. oh, and this dude actually thought the album was cool, and so was i. haha! i mean, come on, the whole point is of this exercise is to delude myself that i am cool. i the man!

push the mute button

i'm still reeling... i am numb... i've been had. but i'm one up on them. they didn't get one cent from me.

who else is dismayed that the gossip had proven to be true?

against all odds and beyond logic, that effing band of has-beens (who now can't even use the term supernova because of a court order) chose the one person i was not convinced is the right choice. this was a setup. magni, toby, and dilana were not even in the running.

so good luck to you, gargamel... er, lukas. you're gonna need it. and to tommy, gilby and jason... don't hold your breath. you've had 11 weeks of us hanging on every word you say and every move you make (geez i resorted to parroting the police!). you are not gonna take any more of my time. now toby is another matter. meet my new favorite band, juke kartel !

and now, back to regular posting.

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in honor of the rock star finale this week, here's my least favorite performances from this season. in some cases, they just plain suck.

disclaimer: i did not see the first five weeks so i probably missed out on a lot of mind-numbing performances. thank god.

jill gioia: respect (aretha franklin). were you even thinking straight, jill? you are not a rock chick, and you can't pull off a rock version of a song that is screaming soul train. no way.

patrice pike: celebrity skin (hole). probably thought she is true-blue rocker just because she nailed my iron lung. not by a long shot, baby.

chris pierson: roxanne (the police). dilana had good reason to perform this song on the finale; she has to avenge sting's musical genius. and when i saw the clip from the earlier weeks, that practice session at the mansion is enough to judge. A-W-F-U-L.

ryan star: baba o'riley (the who). man, that was sooo painful to watch. i'm not gonna say anything more about the climbing up the amps, running around like there was no tomorrow, and opening that champagne bottle. those were the least of his problems.

dilana robichaux: psycho killer (talking heads). dilana is a very good performer, if she's prepared. lucky for her, they'd rather give ryan the boot that week, otherwise she'd have been in big trouble.

lukas rossi: all these things that i've done. besides the awful voice and the horrible stage moves, he does not do good on the killers. leave it for toby, dude.

magni asgeirsson: starman (david bowie). in all honesty, i can't find one performance that i hated. it's just this one highlights how much his performance improves when a song really suits him. this one, it's like he hardly moves at all.

toby rand: runaway train (soul asylum). boring as hell. this isn't you... wrong song choice, brother.

storm large: i will survive (gloria gaynor). her gamble did not pay off. and she got completely trashed by dave. that's gotta suck, right? then they all tried to bring it around the next night, giving her props and allowing her to defend her performance. evs. btw, it was a toss-up between this song and bring me to life, but toby was in that song so here it is.

ooops, i forgot z! to be honest, i am not impressed with her singing style, though i loved not an addict. however, i didn't see enough performances to judge, not even on the episodes i actually watched (must've been on bathroom break). i might put in razorblade (blue october) just for the sake of having her on the list... but i love the dress she wore that night. if you're gonna get booted out, might as well look your best.

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ok, so i'll be posting a follow-up to my favorites list sometime in the future. i'm just not in the mood for it right now. you can see why.

song of the week: toby rand, somebody told me (from rock star: supernova finale)
gadawful song of the week: lukas rossi, bittersweet symphony (from rock star: supernova finale)

this is it!

dalawang tulog na lang...

the season ender of rock star: supernova is just hours away... and i can't wait!

last week, my officemate and i spent probably 10 minutes at the watercooler (which lends truth to that idiom about watercooler gossip) just taking apart all the performances last wednesday and thursday. i still believe dilana is a kickass singer, but i've also gotten around to officemate's opinion that toby is the one. but i digress...

dilana, my dear, what the hell are you thinking? or, to paraphrase gilby, what the hell were you not thinking? i guess this is what's called equal opportunity -- not one person has everything, eh? so maybe you have reason to think that because the band was looking for a singer, it is not necessary to be a brilliant songwriter. maybe they were just trying to stump you, because otherwise you are it. but good gawd! get over the depression girl! i'm expecting you to come out in fighting form wednesday. don't disappoint me.

oh stormy! how i wish you were here... i've come to love you, wrong notes and all. you give such heartfelt performances especially this last week. but i'll see you again this wednesday, and i'm half-rooting for you to get the wild card encore. basta you'll sing the mature version of ladylike... like it will happen on tv.

magni, though you're a great singer (i still got you on a pedestal man) i really don't think you will win. maybe fuel should get you instead... or how about pinch-hitting for ed kowalczyk? us live fans won't notice.

i don't understand how supernova got hooked on headspin. they were raving and raving about it. thankfully, newsted just shut up about lukas' voice, that comment was really getting old. but i still like you, gargamel, just for that lithium performance the other week (which officemate and i agreed was the best performance episode ever... though the next day everything went south). at least, you being from toronto is not the only reason.

ryan, you sourgraping boy! you're just so lucky the fans love you, and you're making a killing on the downloads. now you're cashing in, with a live recording of your previous songs on rockstar accompanied by no less than the house band! i'll buy it if only for a cleaner version of enjoy the silence. or maybe i'll just wait for the downloads. heheheheh.

my favorite aussie boy! you've come a long way, baby. thank god you've turned it all around... from being barely noticeable to bright shining new frontrunner. or maybe you were just keeping your cards close, eh? well done, dude. you wowed 'em with your last performances, and you've got more than decent songwriting skills too. what more could they ask for? one piece of advice (if you even get to hear about it): make a good name for yourself, because one day you'll find you've outlived those three clowns. uh-oh, uh-oh, uh-oh!

song of the week (last week): storm large, suffragette city (from rock star: supernova)

i'm so excited

isang tulog na lang...

dj has posted a spoiler list for tomorrow's ep of rs:supernova.

all are performing originals, as well as covers. nice! the last three eliminated (ryan, patrice and zayra) were also the ones who got the original song in the song selection. at least now they can't blame the original song for getting booted out, because all of them are doing it.

most anticipated for me is toby's take on mr. brightside. this was marty's breakout performance last year, and i think toby's voice is better suited to the song. earlier i've been wondering what song would be great for toby, and so far he has shown his versatility with layla, solsbury hill, and rebel yell. it's time he visits the alternative scene.

and in case you haven't noticed, i'm rooting for toby mostly. i crush him na. heheheh.

hell week

it's not just for college orgs

it's just one of those weeks that you wish was over when it's just started.

i've been wrestling with a project deliverable for, like, 3 weeks now, and it's still not done. i'm rapidly losing cred here and i still can't figure out what to do! though i guess it'll all come when i'm good and ready... but i really hope that will happen on monday.

then i have this sneezing spell which rapidly developed into a cold last monday. this whole week i felt soooo tired when i got home at night... and it's not purely due to taking the bus to and from work. i actually went to bed willingly before 10 pm early this week. but then wednesday came, and you know what happens on wednesday...

this week's performance night on supernova is the best in my book. the one bright spot in the entire week. like my officemate said, "wala kang itatapon na performance." surprisingly, i was impressed with lukas the weirdo's performance. MOKB has a good alias for him: gargamel in drag. ROFL.

however, what went down elimination night was exactly that... it went south. gad, it was painful. that does not include toby's encore. and we (errr, me, my best friend and my officemate... as if we were a whole lot, eh?) all agreed about the non-wisdom of booting out ryan "the dark horse" star. i actually thought he was a shoo-in for the finale. but as i re-read MOKB's reviews (they're not flattering at all) i got the picture that ryan might not be as good as i thought. whatever. or, according to toby, EVS.

so with ryan out, who do i think have the chops to make it into the finale? dilana, as i mentioned previously, is the frontrunner, until her horrific mistake during the press clinic. which was why she ended up bottom three for the first time this week. however, she still has lots of cred with supernova. toby, on the other hand, has rapidly gained cred in the last 2-3 weeks. i think it started with week 6 and burning down the house... even if the bullhorn brought on cringes and thoughts of "been there, done that". but him getting to perform with supernova and getting the encore for rebel yell are some pretty obvious signs he is up there. magni, of the solid vocals, should also be a shoo-in. so the question remains, who betwen lukas and storm will be eliminated next week? will we see another double elim?

oh, and i'm also entertaining the wish that none of those three i'm rooting for wins, because they do not deserve to be stuck with a bunch of wash-ups. heheheh.

song of the week: lukas rossi, lithium (from rock star: supernova)