In the mood for like

This is for a friend who is in like. Go lang, I support you!

ETA: Turns out this is one of the favorite movie of friend’s object of desire. Lovely coincidence. And this is my favorite too for other reasons.

Brrr

You don’t show much these days
It gets so fucking cold

-Tori Amos, Northern Lad

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The cold winds from the Arctic are blowing over Texas this weekend, which is fatefully coinciding with my first encounter with an ego-boost deficiency syndrome. Somebody reassure me that I’m smart (or irresistibly good-looking!) or something. Never had this trouble with writing a short paragraph in my whole life.

In other news, the subversion continues. Subversion #1: Resist blind adherence to the hegemonic constructed narratives of masculinity. Subversion #2: Prudence is overrated, so just go.

Counterhegemony

There is a pressing need to subvert the hegemonic ideals of bourgeois complacency, dangerously disguised as ‘conventional wisdom’. And while we’re at it, on a personal scale, that of stiff masculine indifference too.

Dekebsism

2am on a dark and empty Texas highway with Come Away With Me in the background marks the probable end of the 8-month kebsist era. Time to break silences, subvert hegemonic powers, and, well, start caring.

Equinox

To anticipate in a couple of months the start of my 28th year of existence and the end of a wonderful decade without a proper name, I’m listing down the 28 greatest songs released in the last ten years according to me.

28. Stillness Is The Move by The Dirty Projectors (2009)
27. Mr. Brightside by The Killers (2004)
26. Oo by Up Dharma Down (2006)*
25. Kissing the Lipless by The Shins (2003)*
24. Come Around by Rhett Miller (2004)*
23. Can’t Get You Out of My Head by Kylie Minogue (2001)
22. Crazy by Gnarls Barkley (2006)
21. Casimir Pulaski Day by Sufjan Stevens (2005)
20. I Am Trying to Break Your Heart by Wilco (2002)*
19. A Place Called Home by PJ Harvey (2000)*
18. Wolf Like Me by TV on the Radio (2006)
17. I Turn My Camera On by Spoon (2005)
16. Emily by Joanna Newsom (2006)
15. Is This It? by The Strokes (2001)
14. Third Planet by Modest Mouse (2000)
13. Seven Nation Army by The White Stripes (2003)
12. A Sorta Fairytale by Tori Amos (2002)*
11. Neighborhood #3 (Power Out) by Arcade Fire (2003)
10. Paper Planes by M.I.A. (2007)
9. Fireworks by Animal Collective (2007)
8. Letter From an Occupant by The New Pornographers (2000)
7. Bros by Panda Bear (2007)
6. I’m a Cuckoo by Belle and Sebastian (2003)*
5. Idioteque by Radiohead (2000)
4. Pagan Poetry by Bjork (2001)*
3. Maps by Yeah Yeah Yeahs (2003)*
2. Float On by Modest Mouse (2004)
1. Purple Bottle by Animal Collective (2005)*

Runners-up: Shine a Light by Wolf Parade (2005); Evil by Interpol (2005); The Rip by Portishead (2008); Faraway by Sleater-Kinney (2002); At the Hop by Devendra Banhart (2004)*.

*Songs significant for some emo reason

Meanwhile, I stumbled upon this thing I had forgotten I once wrote:

why do I bother?
I pondered as I watched you
casually have fish

I sorta like.

In other news, I’m cooking pasta for the first time tomorrow!

Whoop!

What have we found?
The same old fears,

- Pink Floyd, Wish You Were Here

New header! And Obama’s coming to College Station next month! And I’m going to the library tomorrow to borrow books I have long desired to read! Free pizza and billiards night tomorrow too!

Gig ‘em

But the thoughts we try to deny
Take a toll upon our lives
We struggle on in depths of pride
Tangled up in single minds

-Portishead, It Could Be Sweet

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On a night that marks a full month since arrival here (longest time spent outside of the PI yet), I am indulging in the double pleasure of tiramisu gelato and the hypnotic sound of Portishead, a band that I have loved for 13 years now (memories of MTV videos, that Levi’s ad and a beloved cassette tape). For some reason, I have been stuck in a sonic 90s nostalgia ever since I heard Eve 6’s Inside Out and Garbage’s Push It (creepily awesome music video) on the radio, which then led to further backtracking via youtube of diverse hits that bring back distinct memories of high school like Shawn Colvins’ Sunny Came Home, Fastball’s The Way, Merril Bainbridge’s Mouth, The Cardigans’ Erase and Rewind, Ace of Base’s Lucky Love, Mr. President’s Coco Jambo, Blueboy’s Remember Me, Scatman John’s Scatman, Anggun’s Snow on the Sahara, Sheryl Crow’s My Favorite Mistake and so on.

PhD work has been exhausting yet exciting and rewarding thus far and I have found myself lately on an extended Sonny mode (i.e. extremely academic frame of mind). Booooooks!  I know it’s been just two weeks of course work and I’ll probably get sick and complain about it soon but for now I’m enjoying it and trying to explore the possibilities.

La da da da da

Pitchfork, the only music criticism anyone should believe, has come up with its best 500 tracks of the 2000s. OutKast  (with B.O.B at no. 1) and LCD Soundsystem (All My Friends at no. 2) top the list. Here are the songs from my playlist that made it in the top 40 (and they also happen to be dear favorites).

#3. Paper Planes (M.I.A.)
#6. Maps (Yeah Yeah Yeahs) – Yeah! Hay…
#8. Idioteque (Radiohead)
#9. My Girls (Animal Collective)
#10. Neighborhood #1 (Arcade Fire)
#24. Everything In It’s Right Place (Radiohead)
#30. Seven Nation Army (White Stripes)
#34. Galang (M.I.A.)
#35. Fireworks (Animal Collective)
#39. Float On (Modest Mouse)
#40. Since I Left You (Avalanches)

Although Pitchfork is an indie music snob, they often include really good pop hits in their lists, like: Crazy in Love by Beyonce (#4), One More Time by Daft Punk (#5), Get Ur Freak On by Missy Elliott (#7), Crazy by Gnarls Barkley (#11), Ignition by R. Kelly (#19), Since U Been Gone by Kelly Clarkson (#21), Umbrella by Rihanna (#25) and Can’t Get You Out of My Head by Kylie (#37).

Speaking of pop songs, local radio stations have been my only source of new music here in College Station. With the possible exception of two, all of them unfortunately are not to my taste. I have always claimed how certain songs are intricately linked with a particular time and therefore with all the cognate memories as well. And so oftentimes, innocent pop songs can turn me into a nostalgic ball of cheese. And one (see title) was close to doing just that today. Good thing doing laundry is the perfect antidote to anything ethereal and melodramatic.

In other news, classes start next week! Hello tons of readings!

Y’all

One of the few good things about scorching summers is that you can place frozen chicken out in the balcony and expect them to defrost in a couple of minutes. So while I’m waiting for the Texas summer to do just that, I’ll write an entry.

I feel fortunate to have met a community of Pinoy grad students here in College Station and one couple in particular has been invaluable in helping me settle down. It’s like having parents here, and that’s always a good thing. After the 7pm Mass, I also struck a conversation with a guy who happened to be a dorm mate in Narra back in 2001. I vaguely remember him as one of the Narra regulars who would intimidate newbies and rarely seen dormers. He described me to the fellow Pinoys as one of the quiet ones who were especially difficult to bully because I was never affected and didn’t really care. One point for kebsists.

ETA: After three hours of preparations, the chicken adobo plus rice and lettuce and orange juice meal is finished finally. And although salty (too much Silver Swan soy sauce), it turned out quite delicious. I’m so proud of myself. I think I like cooking now. Next up: pasta!

Meanwhile, we all know how geographers never underestimate the power of distance. I know I don’t. [Insert unspoken histrionic statement here.]

But you just look away in the distance

-Tori Amos, China

Howdy

The move to a new, more permanent home is finally making my blood run again and is slowly thawing the icy detachment I’ve maintained since I got here. Attending to the lesser urgent household matters with trips to specialty stores and groceries (where I saw Jufran, Silver Swan, Ligo and Knorr Sinigang Mix) has made me, for a while at least, a little homesick. HEB is very nice but it’s no clap-clap-happy-to-serve SM Hypermarket.

College Station is slowly beginning to come to life after having arrived here on the eve of a very hot and humid summer break weekend when the campus was devoid of people. I’ve also discovered other good places to eat (best burritos in the world is in Texas) though still looking for a cool place to hang out. College Station is a nice (if a bit typically boring American) small city with quiet neighborhoods and some parks. I just wished there were more outdoor opportunities and it was a little cooler (in both senses).

Although living there costs a fortune and the state finances are in disarray, I would definitely choose to move to beautiful San Francisco Bay Area in a heartbeat. Proof.

I’m not sure if I would want this current zombie disposition to go away completely. There may be an absence of excitement and care but at least there is little nostalgic introspection and no more trace of that nonsense business of the past months (so yeah, there we go again). Anyhow, keep reading and stay in touch y’all (I’m actually slowly picking up that drawl).