raincontreras.com | one pinoy pundit points and shoots

Majam gigs have always been a sort of priority when i was back in UP, primarily because they were good, and equal to that, the admission was always free. m and i decided to get our infrequent jazz dose last sunday at the Lagoon.

badly enough, they were displaced from the Lagoon stage because of a nearby party, which did appear campus-official, nonetheless noisy. the trio held the concert behind the admin grounds, across the street from the UP Theater. we placed ourselves in front, missing assumingly one, or half a, song.

a competent review with have all the song titles at hand to cite, but Joey Valenciano, the drummer, would, i am lead to believe, permit this misgiving. he even forgets the songs after they play em :) first thing i noticed would be the addition of a new pianist. no Johnny Torres :/ but he does look official, and that’s what the program says, too. his name? sorry, didnt get it also. highlights of the gig was their version of the standard Take Five, and an improv of that Viva Hot Babes hit, Bulaklak. yes, folks, it was a request.

despite the obvious changes, as well as Joey appearing to have lost a little of his heftness, Ruben Reyes (bassist), looking ultra-casual with slippers, and now-long, semi-unkempt hair, this ia Majam as you would probably have them at your house, at the basement, practicing slash performing. its definitely about time to have an album out for these guys.

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damn camera attachment on phone gave crappy pictures of the gig, and im still 30 shots away from finishing a B&W film roll on my Lomo Smena 8M :/ so here’s a lifted image from the web [source]:

started the day by renting out dvds of PT Anderson’s Hard Eight, and Sofia Coppola’s Lost in Translation. my finding the former was incidental, my getting the latter is intentional, i even had it reserved.

Hard Eight aka Sydney is PTA’s first film, and if you’ve seen the later ones, it wont be so difficult citing this one bearing his signature techniques, sans the Altman-esque ensemble of characters. good? yes. can beat most of the provincial cable tv movies we see here at home most of the time.

Lost in Translation was a delight, and overwhelmingly enjoyable. great photography, and the overall pensive, and cool mood prevailed. also, a non-rock movie with samples of my bloody valentine and jesus and mary chain works, since this one did. and yes, the massive collective charm of bill murray and scarlett johansson was greater than expected.

however, the info found on this page will justify one part of the film i had a slight difficulty consuming. figure it out.

UPDATE: Lost in Translation is reportedly going to be released commercially on February 25. will be great to see this film again.

i’ve read about stereo cameras, but its the first time i’ve seen LOMO do this, as we can see here at eBay. here’s the ‘non-stereo’ version of the camera shown above.

its an odd, but totally genuine feeling, that i proclaim how heartwarming it is to see the variety of local movies out on VCD (crappy format, but it will do; still prefer VHS to this) now. anything from joey de leon’s she-man (poster? click here!), to long-lost restored gerardo de leon classic sanda wong.

equally fantastic is that vicor music has decided to re-release on cd some albums of its own. remember, i proudly bought the re-issue of sharon cuneta’s first album. now, the last time i saw didith reyes on anything was on a vinyl LP we once owned. yes, rock music snobs, i guess im not going to buy it for purposes of my father’s nostalgia only.

since i am too lazy and unwilling to trek the north expressway to acquire a copy of Lost in Translation, i figured out one of our local video stores that rent out pirated dvd’s might have a copy. matter of fact, they do, but it was OUT. dammit. had it reserved, anyway.

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currently reading H.P. Lovecraft’s The Cult of Cthulhu.