Channeling my Inner Rock Star

One of those spur of the moment purchases I did last week was Guitar Hero World Tour which came complete with a drum set, guitar and mic for the Wii.

Boy was I hooked!

I could really play "Are You Gonna Go My Way" when I was in college but years of lack of practice has made my fingers rusty. Not that Guitar Hero actually improved your skills in guitar playing (far from it), but the fact that I was jamming again brought back memories of all that guitar playing I did in college. Credit some of that skill in helping me to woo my then girlfriend-now-wife.

One of my other discs, Guitar Hero Legends of Rock really brought on the nostalgia, especially since one of the songs there was Cream's "Sunshine of Your Love". Our band back then ("Elephant Gun" as it was called) did some college gigs and this was one of the songs we did. I remember our lead vocalist pasting the lyrics of the song on the floor because when he gets stage fright he forgets them! This classic was one of the coolest we did I think, back when the day when grunge was the "in" thing. Although we did do our fair share of Pearl Jam at that time ...

Caitlin is now getting to appreciate the legendary rock songs like "Welcome to the Jungle" , "Bulls on Parade" and "Black Magic Woman". She's my drummer in this little rock band we have and hopefully when Inigo gets older he will have a more active participation. Bass player maybe?

Hmmmm ....

Panic at 35,000 Feet

On my way back to Manila from Munich via Amsterdam passengers on the flight got a scare from an old guy who was a row in front of me. As we entered into Russian airspace this man, who would be in his '60s, suddenly went into some sort of seizure. His seatmates suddenly stood up and the stewards announced on the PA whether or not a doctor was on the plane.

Two doctors, one Chinese-American lady and one Filipino came up along with a Dutch nurse to assist in the emergency. The man seemed to be choking up and couldn't respond to the questions by the doctors how he was feeling and what was wrong. The prospect of landing in Moscow seemed imminent since the situation seemed to be quite serious.

Things calmed down afterwards once the doctors were able to get some tranquilizers (!) from the first aid kit. The guy was ok all throughout the flight after that. Turns out that he fell on the ice and hit his head while vacationing.

It was a sobering experience, the effects of my in-flight alcohol immediately cleared up in less than 30 seconds, faster than really bad turbulence during stormy weather.

Maierhofer's Finger (Its Da Finger, Not Da Finger, YES da Finger)

With that Ateneo win last night it has been subject to so much speculation and debate in the number of forums that I visit. So much so that they argue that if Rico Maierhofer was not thrown out of the game, things would have spelled differently for the Archers.

Sadly, I beg to disagree.

It is the lack of a cohesive play in the fourth quarter that did them in and superb defense on the part of Ateneo. It is sad to note that while the Archers felt bad about the loss the utter lack of professionalism from the coach, the players and the school to graciously accept the award is quite disappointing to say the least (to think I am also from La Salle).

So, in the words of Inday Garutay "SINONG NANAY MO?"

CAUGHT! Watching Ateneo Games

So who got caught watching the Ateneo games?

Follow the links:

http://www.fabilioh.com/photos/main.php?g2_itemId=24807
http://www.fabilioh.com/photos/main.php?g2_itemId=24813

Lost 80s Concert Part 1

They were more than 20 years too late but as the adage goes "better late than never." And it was a good thing we watched the farewell concert too. A Flock of Seagulls, Real Life and When In Rome were in Manila for a series of shows just over the weekend and we missed the concert in Araneta because we didn't have any nannies (or quasi-nannies like our parents) to take care of the kids. Good thing that the guys above still had another concert slated at the Hard Rock Cafe, which we watched.

We were quite happy for a number of reasons: the tickets were cheaper, there were plenty of food choices and we were way up at the front of everybody else.

It was quite a good concert because they were mainly invited to do 80s hits songs, and none of those obscure songs they probably tried to do when their careers flagged in the 90s. Keep the good memories alive in my opinion and boy did they keep them alive. We were overwhelmed by the 80s repertoire, a lot of which people were singing to:

Real Life did Send Me An Angel, Catch Me I'm Falling and Always!
When In Rome did The Promise and Heaven Knows!
A Flock of Seagulls did The More You Live, I Ran, Space Age Love Song, Telecommunication!

(You can see my selected videos to jog your 80s memories ...)

I also got a chance to meet the lead vocal for When In Rome and get an autographed copy of his CD. Too bad I just missed the lead vocal for A Flock of Seagulls when I got the chance to get a ballpen. And Real Life was nowhere to be found ...

But then again, it was great that we got to see them live, albeit two decades late. They probably wouldn't be coming to the Philippines again unless they produce another hit song (highly unlikely) so it was good to seize the opportunity. And for those who are so much into the 80s like we are, another great concert is coming up:

General Public (yay!)
Gene Loves Jezebel (woohoo!)
Wang Chung (...) and
Thompson Twins (cool!).

Which is why my caption is Part 1. We are definitely watching the next one!

Yes some of them look quite wors

A Concert to Remember: Duran Duran in Manila

I had a very "deprived" teenage life as far as social gimmicks are concerned. I never had the chance to attend any high school dances and never had the opportunity to attend concerts by international acts.

Lesley's birthday gift was VIP tickets to Duran Duran and boy were they GREAT!

We were watching a DVD of their 2004 Astronaut concert in London (?) and I was telling her how much they sounded the same two decades after their first hits. And surprise surprise through the help of Mae's boyfriend we got to learn early on that they were coming to Manila. The final date of the concert was the eve of my birthday! Whaddya think of that.

It was of course their Asian leg of their tour for their new album, Red Carpet Massacre and Manila fortunately was one of the stops. I was in Jakarta early this week and they were also gracing the town for a one night event.

The crowd was very enthusiastic (albeit very much a refined 30's to 40+ age group) with the older Duran Duran songs: Hungry Like the Wolf, Planet Earth, A View to a Kill (WOW!) and Girls on Film. They never deviated from the same sound that made them famous and their chemistry onstage was such a good thing to watch. Then Simon le Bon whipp[ed out an acoustic guitar for the start of "Save A Prayer" ... and the screaming started. Give to the Filipinos for an enthusiastic accompaniment during the chorus.

The new songs of course did not receive the same rabid acceptance as the older ones however some of them have that distinct "crossover to house music" feel. Commercial decision of course to allow Duran Duran to become more accessible to the below-30 crowd.

Nonetheless, a remarkable show. One that had me screaming and stomping and singing (others in the audience were WAY more enthusiastic). Watching them up close, however that I was probably two decades too late, will go down to be one of the best nights I have experienced.

Thank you darling. Best birthday gift ever.

Mecha Anime Plots: A Storyline for 5 year olds

I was watching an old episode of Getter Robo (circa 1970s) on my iPhone while munching away my Starbucks lunch and realized how utterly simplistic the storyline is. I know they want to eventually build up the story in such a way that it actually makes sense but it does seem that they scriptwriters decided to skip a few important details just to get to the action (this was Episode 1, you see).

It goes something like this:

1. New Getter Robo Team training on their mechas to explore space
2. Dinosaur race has been evolving underneath the surface of the Earth. Hates humans. Creates dino-robots to destroy humankind.
3. Getter Robo training team is destroyed. One is the son of the Professor (yes there's always one in any Mecha Anime series in the 70s).
4. Adhoc Getter Robo team destroys first dinosaur robot.
5. Dinosaur race vows revenge.

Etcetera, etcetera.

I was going to download the complete series just for the sheer nostalgia of it. Unfortunately after that first episode, I'd probably stick to my other anime greats which still have a very good, valid across all ages, storyline:

1. Voltes V (the overall plot makes sense, not as developed but good enough for an appreciation of several generations of viewers)
2. Daimos (the Romeo and Juliet of mecha anime)
3. Macross (released in the 1980s this was the start of a more mature, coherent storyline).

Thanks to my anime download site, I still have a few more series to go through on my iPhone,