Someday you will find me.....

I'm not the biggest Oasis fan.  I originally didn't like them, I found Liam Gallagher's voice actually quite annoying.  Then I heard Wonderwall and I realized...they were pretty good, for what they set out to be, a no frills rock and roll band.  The fact that they were huge fans of the Beatles and their music (so much sa as to occasionally mention some Beatles tidbits in som of their lyrics)  helped warm them up to me as well.  I was eventually won over by their album "(What's the story) Morning Glory?" along with the rest of the world, and since then I have made it a point to semi-follow their musical career with every album they churn out..good and bad.  

So when the opportunity came to actually watch them live, I jumped at the chance.  In a nutshell, it was everything I expected it to be, nothing more, nothing less, which in itself is basically what Oasis is all about...they don't pretend to be anybody else (except maybe the Beatles on occasion), just a straightforward, "meat and potatoes" rock and roll band....anyway, I just made some observations about the show and the band....

1) Oasis is essentially the Gallagher brothers, Liam and Noel, it doesn't really matter who's playing bass, second guitar or drums....the rest of the guys in the "band" could have been cardboard cutouts on stage as they hardly ever moved.  Well ok the drummer was pretty animated w/c was cool....at one point he tossed his drum stick in the air during a song...and DROPPED IT! thank God for extra drumsticks, he didn't miss a beat.  I also found their "extra" member, a keyboardist amusing as he looked like Jesus Christ (no blasphemy intended) and was introduced to the audience by Noel Gallagher  as a "direct descendant" of Gandalf.

2) Their drummer was new...he was good and as I mentioned quite animated....made up for everyone else just standing around.  Just a bit of trivia though, their former drummer was Zack Starkey who is actually the son of Beatles drummer Ringo Starr...how cool was that?

3) Liam Gallagher for some reason manages to have stage presence by NOT haveing any stage presence.  He has only TWO stances on stage.  One where he stands feet apart with hands in his pocket leaning into the mic and singing, and the other where he stands feet apart with hands in his pocket standing straight looking onto the audience when he's not singing and Noel Gallagher is soloing.  Oh ok, he HAS a third pose...occasionally he'll pick up a tambourine and SHAKE IT! yeah!

4) Liam Gallagher  may have the characteristic sneer and nasaly voice that many associate with the band's sound, but actually, I think Noel Gallagher  actually has the better voice and is more engaging to the audience, plus he writes most of their songs.  I think Liam recognizes it as fact that Oasis could actually continue on without him with Noel leading the band and have some semblance of success while the band would probably crash and burn if Noel left and it was just Liam.

5) When Noel Gallagher  would sing lead on a song, Liam would basically leave the stage, w/c is understandable, I found it odd though that Noel would remain on the left side of the stage and not take center stage.  Maybe he does it in "respect" to his brothers "official position" in the band...who knows?  I just found it odd watching the stage with no one in the middle.

6) Sadly, Oasis has yet to come up with an album as memorable as their first 2 albums Definitely Maybe & Morning Glory....but then again, isn't that the case with most bands?

7) "Don't Look Back in Anger" is a far superior song than "Wonderwall"

8) I figured the show was over after "Champagne Supernova" ...I mean how do you top that?  Simple...play a song by the Beatles...duh.  They closed the show with "I am the Walrus" WOOOOOOOOOOO!

9) WTF moment of the night.  Liam (to the crowd): You guys are great! (cheers)......but we're better! (silence) ha ha ha ha

10) I actually knew all the songs they played! ok except one....w/c was perfect for a bathroom break.  Notable songs they DIDN'T sing though were: "Live Forever", "Go Let it Out", "Cast no Shadow" , "D'you Know what I mean" & "Acquiesce".

OC: Obsessive Collecting

OC: Obsessive Collecting

Ever since I was a child, there has always been ONE thing constant about me.  I was always collecting something.  Whether it’s something as meaningless as plastic jumping bugs you get from junk food packs to something that burns holes in wallets like comics, I’ve collected quite a LOT of stuff in my life.  It’s quite an obsession, as once I get started on something, I don’t stop until I’ve completed it or at least spent insane amounts of money on it.  Some would say it’s just a whole lot of money wasted...and while I’ll be the first to admit I have gone overboard on a number of occasions, and there are quite a lot of stuff I can do without, my collections are a big part of who I am and they’ve made me happy, given me something exciting to do in life, call it the “thrill of the hunt”, I’m sure a lot of you know what I mean.  As long as I’m not hurting anyone...I think it’s all good J  I figured it would be a fun exercise to try and remember everything I ever got into....so here we go.

1)      Stuff from junk food:  As a child I was always a sucker for freebies.  The earliest stuff i remember collecting were all the free stuff you would get out of junk food and stuff.  Ones I especially remember where those jumping plastic bugs, I think they were called skippers? I had quite a lot of those.  I also remember this one snack that gave away DC super hero playing cards...as in one card per pack...I actually completed the entire deck...all 56 playing cards. 

2)      Ziggy from Tang:  For a time Tang had some cross promotion with the character Ziggy.  I specifically remember Ziggy buttons.  You could exchange the Tang lids for buttons in Gift Gate.  They also at one point had Ziggy finger puppets which were cool cuz after sticking your finger in them, your finger smelled like Tang ha ha. 

3)      Smurfs: They were small, blue and there were hundreds of unique characters, what was there NOT to love for a young collector?

4)      Figurine Panini sticker books: Ok I’m sure a lot of you remember this one.  I was OBSESSED with completing my sticker books.  My classmates and I would pitch in and buy stickers BY THE BOX.  Eventually National bookstore started selling individual stickers so it got easier to complete each book.  I believe I completed 3 of them.  One about animals (World of Survival), dinosaurs, and Thundercats....oh and I think there was a Care bear one..but I couldn’t get the rest of my classmates to pitch in on that one so I didn’t even start ha ha.

5)      Lego: I had TONS of lego as a child.  My parents would buy my brother and I lots of different sets but after building them, I would just trash them and dump all the pieces into this huge drawer.  So I could build other stuff...great toy to build a child’s imagination, it’s a shame now that  lego is so expensive and that a lot of the pieces are now pre-built.  Case in point, lego, horses, today they come in one piece, in my days you had to BUILD them yourself, of course they looked like crap compared to today’s hordes ha ha.

6)      Star Wars: Ok I remember when my dad went to the States and said he would buy me my first Star Wars figures.  I was SO excited that I would brag to my yaya and my classmates that my dad was gonna get me Luke Skywalker and Han Solo and Darth Vader.  When he came home he gave me some dude called Dengar and some other minor characters I don’t even remember..talk about major disappointment.  Eventually though my dad made up for it and I finally got my Lukes and Hans and so on.  I particularly remember collecting Ewoks.

7)      G.I.Joe:  On my first trip to the States I was still OBSESSED with all things Star Wars.  But my brother convinced me to try out this new toy called G.I.Joe.  I had never heard of it before but I decided to buy one.  I was AMAZED at how much better these dudes were compared to Star Wars figures, I mean the articulation was light years ahead...they could bend their knees and elbows! And they came with so much more cool accessories.  I stopped Star Wars then and there.  I remember getting about 60 plus figures (plus some huge vehicles) in a span of about 4-5 years.  Then I eventually sold half of them off for 300 bucks so I could buy a mini RC.  The rest I ended up mixing and matching and made them into wrestlers.  I had my own imaginary wrestling league ala WWF with statistics and so on.  What I remember was that when I would place some of them in a “camel clutch” hold their crotches would accidentally break off....ouch!

8)      He-Man:  Ok I didn’t really collect a lot of these guys cuz basically there was only so much money a kid could convince his parents to spend on for toys.  But I devised a brilliant plan to help satisfy my collecting appetite for these guys.  I had a classmate who collected He-Man, every time he came to my house to play he would bring his toys and I convinced him that we should “share” our toys.  So he would leave his toys in my house so I got to keep a lot of his He-men ha ha.  Of course later on I realized he was stealing G.I.Joes from me....

9)      Transformers: Ok these guys I loved.  But they were really expensive so I wasn’t able to get so much of these guys.  I also managed to convince another friend to leave HIS collection in my house and he eventually forgot about them...lucky me!  Little did I know that some 20 years later I would end up collecting these guys again....nostalgia can really cost you nowadays!

10)   Comics: Ok....I’ve always loved superheroes and I’ve always loved reading about them.  I remember there was this shop in Goldcrest called Comic Quest where the lady who sold the comics was SO friendly and SO convincing, she really made me spend SO much money on comics.  Too much money in my opinion.  Luckily, I have now discovered the art of downloading comics...so I don’t spend a buck on them anymore (bad I know....but really it just costs TOO much)  Ok well actually if I really enjoy something I buy the compiled version.

11)   Books: I love the fantasy genre, and my first love was Dragonlance.  Ever since the Dragonlance Chronicles, I’ve built up a Dragonlance library of at least around 50 books.  I really find it cool how I am currently reading about the exploits of the grand children of the characters I first read about in the Chronicles....it’s like I ‘m part of the family.

12)   Music: First there were cassette tapes....I had at least 100 plus.  Then there came CDs....I would say about 500 plus CDs.  Then there came the internet.  Since the golden age of Napster and Audio Galaxy, and up until now, I’ve downloaded approximately 280-300 GIGABYTES of music.  But if I DO like something...especially indie artists...I still buy the actual CD.

Well I think that’s currently it.  Hopefully I will not move on to anything else.  I think I’ve found my niche w/ toy collecting.  And when I have kids of my own, it will be my greatest joy to pass on my collections to them....provided they sign a document stating that they will take very good care of them ha ha.

 

Turning 33

I turned 33 this year...that's old ha ha :)  Anyway I decided to start something new this year...w/c is blog.  I'll be the first one to admit that I'm not much of a writer, but I did keep a journal once (actually it was a project for a psych class in college) and I do remember enjoying the exercise.So I've decided to pick it up again.

Anyway since everyone is into this "25 things about me" stuff I figure what better way to start than with my own list...except since I'm 33....this is a list of 33 things about me ha ha...

33 Random Facts about Me

1.      1.  My full name is Christopher Sebastian Pancratius Santos Tordesillas.  Christopher because he is the patron saint of travel, w/c my dad was doing a lot of those days.  Sebastian because his feast day is on my birthday, Jan 20.  Pancratius because he is the patron saint of children.

2.       2.I was born about a month premature and was given an emergency baptism in the hospital.  I had my first operation to treat my hernia when i was 1 week old.  I had another operation a month later.

3.       3.As a kid I couldn’t sleep unless my yaya scratched my back.

4.      4. I don’t like carrots.  One day I tried them for the first time and i liked them, so I kept on eating more that day till i got sick and puked....now, I don’t like carrots.

5.     5.  I have had 8 pet turtles so far in my lifetime, Jovi, Jimmy, Mo, Frisky, Slowpoke, Kobe, Shaq & Optimus Prime.  I have no immediate plans to get any more for now.

6.       6.I got hospitalized as a kid for drinking too much Yakult.

7.       7.When I was young (and didn’t know any better) I choked my older brother with a rosary....yes I believe I’m going to hell for that.

8.       8.I am a HUGE fan of the band A-Ha, I have all 8 of their studio albums and a live album on my ipod, and I’m eagerly awaiting their new album later this year.

9.       9.When it comes to comics, I am definitely Marvel over DC, Avengers over X-men, and my favourite superhero is Captain America with Hawkeye a close second.

10.   10.I’m a compulsive collector.  When I get into something I try to get everything, or at least a whole bunch lot of whatever I’m collecting.  Currently I am an avid toy collector.

11.   11.I’m a child of the 80’s, I think the 80’s were the best time to be a kid.  You had the Transformers, G.I.Joe, He-Man, Sectaurs, Inhumanoids, Visionaries, Thundercats, Silverhawks, Smurfs, The Muppet Show, Fraggle Rock, Gobots, Centurions and so on.  Although I only seriously collected G.I.Joes (since they were relatively the cheapest of the bunch).

12.   12.I was persecuted in grade school for liking the Care Bears ha ha.

13.   13.I am a HUGE Transformers fan.  You know that show Beat the Geek?  I could probably qualify as a Transformers Geek .

14.   14.I do 3D modeling as a hobby.  My favourite subject, you guessed it...Transformers.  In the past 3 or 4 years I have modelled and animated around 250 plus unique characters.  You can check them all out here... www.iaconcity.com

15.   15.Although I believe the Mcdonalds Quarter Pounder is the never fail ultimate bang for your buck burger, the DOUBLE quarter pounder though is just PURE evil....or is that genius?

16.   16. I think Brad Pitt is an excellent actor and I am scared of Angelina Jolie....those lips...scary

17.   17.Anyone who knows me knows that I am a HUGE fan of the Beatles...however I only got into them when I was in college.

18.   18.My ultimate favourite band though is the Counting Crows.

19.   19.If I could go back in time and change ONE thing in history...off the top of my head, would be to prevent John Lennon from getting shot.  What a waste.

20.   20.I’ve been called Tords, Basti, Bas, Macky, Toffen, Tofu, Fingers, Wasabi Fingers,  Mr. Fingers, Pancrits and Tordy Bear.

21.  21. As a kid I was REALLY into Dinosaurs, my favourite dinosaur is the Triceratops.  As a kid I didn’t know how to pronounce his name properly and called it the “TREE-KE-RA-TOPS” and Greek Mythology...specifically the Greek heroes.   I was also terrified of the monster Grendel from Beowulf.  I was so terrified that my sister who was a psychology major hypnotized me to help me get over my fear.

22.   22.I prefer fantasy over sci-fi.  Especially stuff about dragons...must be because I loved dinosaurs as a kid. 

23.   23.I am SO a mountain person.  I’ll take the cold weather and pine trees over the beach ANY day.  My dream would be to live in Baguio.

24.   24.I am a HUGE fan of Survivor.  Although I never saw the first season from start to end, I have watched every season faithfully since...all 16 of them.

25.   25.I loved collecting “Choose your own adventure” books..I think I had at least 50 of them.

26.  26. One of my greatest achievements in grade school was winning a United Nations week long contest where I represented Sweden (go figure).  Since then I have had a fascination with all things Swedish.  I hope to go there someday.

27.   27.If the concepts of past lives were true, I am convinced that I was a Swedish hockey player in my past life.

28.   28.Although I don’t really play a lot of sports, I love watching sports movies...especially those about American football or hockey (Mighty Ducks anyone?).

29.   29.I believe I am a RENT HEAD.  Was lucky enough to catch the original cast in New York and watched it in the Manila around 5 or 6 times.  Plus there is the movie w/c  I’ve seen at least 5 times. Oh yeah I also auditioned....but didn’t get past the first round ha ha

30.   30.I’d rather go blind than deaf.  Can’t live without music.

31.   31.I’ve My favourite movie is a toss up between Almost Famous & Braveheart.  Superman 2 was the last movie I cried in and I've never seen a single Indiana Jones movie.

32.  32. The Tordesillas street in Salcedo village is named after my dad.

33. 33. In grade 3, I got into an argument with a classmate.  He challenged me to fight in the football field.  I begged off the fight and asked if we could move the fight to the first day of the next school year.  He agreed and so over the summer I took up judo...and then kicked his ass when we fstrated grade 4.

 

SexBalls

Spoof of the Sexbomb dancers....funny na rin ha ha...sorry it's late and had a long day....ha ha

WANNABE

I think these guys were discovered in YouTube and now work with GMA...i could be wrong? but anyway....another funny clip...if you like this be sure to do a searcg in YouTube for their version of Marimar :)

Last Day in Manila, August 30, 2008

DFD: "Last Gig" with my family

Aug 23, 2008 - My last gig with Sonny & G-Boy (Downward Facing Dog) for the foreseeable future..since I've since relocated ha ha...anyway, my family including my mom came to watch but they came early before the rest of the band showed up! So Pabs and I put up an impromptu set...which was cool cuz I got to warm up newer songs as well as sing obscure songs that I wanted to get out of my system :)

This was the first time my mom had ever seen me sing so her being there was cool...especially since she was just a month shy from her heart surgery! Thanks mom :)

Later on Roque and Emilio showed up and I played an ALL BEATLES set for them...unfortunately I couldn't do Em's requests of Sgt. Pepper & Penny Lane! But he was happy with Come Together, Sexy Sadie & Hello Goodbye!