You know those cute shirts with messages like “I’m with the band”? I should get one. I’m not saying I’m a certain band’s groupie because I’m not, but last week I was with a band for three consecutive days. I got to work for hang out with Salamin, a rock band whose first album comes out next week.

I got a sneak preview of Salamin’s songs last month, when I had to proofread the lyrics copy and match it with the mixed recordings. I’m no rock chick, but the album was a surprisingly good listen. It probably helped that I was reading the lyrics, so I heard the songs’ message above the screaming guitars and throbbing drums. (Check out a few sound clips off the album on Salamin’s Myspace page.) It’s gonna embarrass the guys, but I found the lyrics inspirational. Ü I was also present at the meeting two weeks ago when the album’s cover design was finalized; I’ve gotta say that when it hits record store shelves, it’ll catch attention.

Salamin is going to be the MTV Rising Star for the month of December, so on Thursday they were scheduled to shoot their specials at the MTV studio at the Fort. My supervisor wanted me present so that I could meet the people from MTV and so that I could at least see how things worked. I only stayed until 10pm because I do have a day job (haha), but being there gave me an idea how the guys worked and gave me an appreciation for how hard it is to get up there and perform.

The next night, a friend invited me to Hard Rock Cafe since his radio station was providing the bands for a benefit event to be held there. Salamin was the opening act. Even though I wasn’t on official business, this was my first time to see them perform live in front of an audience (their MTV Sessions was shot in front of a bunch of cameras and a wall). I found myself singing along to their songs and screaming to get the rest of the crowd hyped up; at least I was sitting with two of the guys’ girlfriends, who were up to the same antics as I was.

Saturday afternoon, Salamin were slated to appear at the MYX MO! pre-show from 4pm to 6pm at the CCP Open Grounds. I wasn’t supposed to be involved in any way, shape, or form in this, but the person who was supposed to assist them wasn’t available because her father had suddenly died that morning. Guess who was sent? Yup, me. (I seem to have turned into the company’s pinch-hitter, since I was sent out as artist support the other week as well. Not complaining here, though.) So I drove all the way from Greenhills to Pasay to make sure the guys got set up right. Unfortunately MYX had only allocated time for one song for almost all the acts, so all that effort on our part was for one brief moment under the klieg spotlights in front of a sweaty rioting audience. But hey, if it gets Salamin more exposure, why not?

The guys shot the music video for their first single yesterday and I was supposed to go as well, but my supervisor decided to give me a break. I can’t wait to see the finished product, though. Ü

Salamin’s band members are: Paolo Valenciano – vocals; Miks Bersales – bass; Justin Alfafara – guitar; Bogs Paterno – lead guitar; and EO Marcos – drums. Their self-titled album debuts on November 22 at the press launch at Cafe Saguijo.

Tags: Salamin, Rock Music, Band

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I’ve taken to talking rather obliquely about who I work with in my job. It’s not because I’m contractually obligated not to talk about them, but I am in media management and it’s part of my job to oversee the flow of information that gets out about the artists we handle. I don’t want to say anything that may come back to bite me in the rear, like accidentally revealing personal information, or schedules, or routines.

I never thought I’d be working in this field. In fact, I never even watched shows like “The Buzz” or “S-Files,” and I’d roll my eyes at the showbiz segments on our nightly news programs. I’d say, “Is this really news?” when some bar fight between two starlets makes the segment.

These days, I’m coming to realize that although these programs and segments aren’t exactly news per se, they’re ways of getting the word out about an artist’s upcoming projects or keeping an artist in the public eye. it’s just how you use it that matters. The gossip and mudslinging is the dark flip side of this whole thing, although some people will take any and all publicity whether negative or positive, true or untrue.

For the first time in my life, I’m actually witnessing how ugly showbiz rumors get started. Last month an artist’s impromptu answers to a radio program’s quiz segment were blown out of proportion by one of this country’s prominent gossip columnists. More recently we’ve had sustained attacks questioning the popularity and mass appeal of two of our young artists.

Our artists are persons, too. Under the facade created by fame are people with dreams that can be dashed, feelings that can be hurt, souls that need nourishment. It’s just that they live their lives in the glare of public attention, without the shielding privacy that we anonymous faces in the crowd don’t even realize we enjoy. I’d like the people I work with to know they can be themselves around me without the nagging thought that something they may say or do will make the gossip rags the next day. Ü

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Today, God called my paternal grandmother, Lourdes Yance De Guzman, to her final Home. She’s now in Heaven with my grandfather — whom we lost last October 6 — along with the other saints who have fallen asleep in Christ.

I hold on to the promise in 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17:

“According to the Lord’s own word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left till the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever.”

Please pray for those they have left behind, especially my dad, who has lost both his parents this month. Thank you, and have a blessed All Saints’ Eve and Day.

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I’ve been at my job six weeks now; if there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that being busy doesn’t give you time for introspection.

Unfortunately for me, introspection forms a huge part of how I write my journal entries here. Otherwise, as you may have noticed over the past few posts, I end up only chronicling the events of the day rather than writing about what the events made me think of.

I’ve been trying to make up for the lack of interesting opinion here by posting more pictures on my Flickr account, and it’s there where you might get some inkling of where I’ve been and what I’ve been doing. But since pictures are worth a thousand words, by the time I sit down to write about my “adventures” I’ve run out of things to say.

So, I’m writing this as a plea to my regular readers (all five — no four, wait, three — of you) and whoever else happens to be reading this: what would you like me to write about? I’m setting this up as a sort of challenge where you give me the writing assignment. I’m very good at implementation; I just suck at coming up with ideas.

Or I could just write about search terms that make me cringe.

Tags: Writer’s Block

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Last week my friend Jenny popped up on Yahoo Messenger asking me to check out a link. Intrigued, I clicked on the link and was taken to her Alta Moda Rome Multiply website. Turns out, Jenny is something of an entrepreneur online. Not only does she sell bags and shoes off her Multiply website, but she also has an Ebay.ph store. The stuff varies from designer to unbranded, but they’re really bargains and since supply is limited they’re also sort of one-of-a-kind.

There’s a whole host of websites with this kind of business model. My friend Tiepee has a few good examples in her contacts list:

• Perfume Republic: scents
• Online Shopping Hive and BlingFinds: designer and designer-inspired apparel and accessories
• The Purchaser and Cherish: shoes
• Gumm Apparel: custom-designed shirts

The catch in doing business this way is that there’s a certain amount of trust you have to have in the seller — or if there have been previous customers, what those people say about the seller. Payment is done through Globe GCash or bank deposit and items are either shipped or picked up at a designated place, but aside from the seller’s word there isn’t a formal guarantee that you will get what you paid for.

Good thing I know Jenny personally, so when I saw this unbranded tan bag and I had to have it, I could rest assured that I would get it. And the best part is she even gave me a discount on it! (How much? That’s our secret.)

I’m a lazy shopper, and based on this one experience I liked the convenience of having my purchase delivered to my doorstep instead of me going out and buying it from a department store or boutique. I’m willing to try the other Multiply retailers at some point, but my wallet isn’t up to it yet. Maybe next payday. Ü

Tags: Multiply, Online Shopping

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In retaliation for the abuse I heaped upon it the other week, my body has been demanding more food and rest. “Waistline be damned!” it said. Despite my best efforts to keep things under control, last week I shoveled second servings onto my plate at every meal and dozed off at odd moments during the day. I just can’t help feeling a little sapped at the end of every work day, and it’s hard to resist taking it out on food. Like last Saturday, for instance.

It had been kind of a long day at the office. Due to my absence last week because I attended my grandfather’s cremation, I had to stay in the office the full nine hours from 9am to 6pm. I was on my way home when my parents called me and invited me to Eastwood City for dinner. I had been binging on Murray’s Sugar-Free Cookies the whole day at the office but still found some room for Teriyaki Boy lapu-lapu tempura. For dessert, I had a latte at Starbucks.

I then headed to Shangri-La Mall where I was supposed to meet with Marielle and her friends from work. They hadn’t had dinner yet, so we went to Krocodile, and I had some calamari rings, sisig, ostrich salpicao, and… My head is spinning just thinking about what I ate. But that wasn’t the end of it!

We found the live music at Shangri-La a little too dated, so at 12am we found ourselves at Metrowalk. Unfortunately, our timing sucked; Rivermaya had just wrapped up their album launch by the time we arrived, so there was no more live music for the rest of the night. Determined to make the best of it anyway, we ordered drinks and mozzarella sticks at Menu.

My sangria proved to be a little too strong, so I ended up drinking Marielle’s non-alcoholic (but definitely more caloric) green tea shake.

I think the next morning I woke up five pounds heavier. Ü Don’t worry, I’m not about to let myself go. I’m getting back on the wagon this week, and I’m not going to let job-related stress get the best of me and my appetite.

But it is lunchtime in an hour…

Tags: Appetite, Exhaustion, Overeating, Stress

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Sabas De Guzman, Jr.
March 22, 1920 – October 6, 2006

I know it was a long and painful road, but yesterday you reached the end of your journey here on Earth and God took you Home. Now, eternity begins for you. I love you, Lolo, and I will miss you.

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I’m taking a few minutes out of a somewhat busy morning to write. There’s something positive to be said about having a full schedule the whole day. My last thoughts at night are about how much I’ve accomplished during the day, and I feel like I’ve actually been useful. It’s just that right now I wish there were more than 24 hours in a day or more than seven days in a week. I find myself frustrated that I sit at my desk nine hours a day and I never seem to be able to finish a project without new ones piling on top of it. I do get things done, but my work as a whole is never done.

I also never realized how much I love having a lot of free time until I had almost all of it taken from me. I work from 9am to 7pm Mondays to Thursdays, 9am to 6pm on Fridays, and 9am to 1pm on Saturdays. There’s hardly any time left over to spend with the people I love and care about. And then this week I have dance rehearsals every evening. I’ve only seen my parents and sister when we’re half-awake: in the early mornings at breakfast, and late at night when I get home and they’re all ready for bed.

Dance rehearsals for the Nike Rockstar Workout Bollywood Tour have also been a mixed bag; I think our “tribe” (group) has developed good rapport, but I also feel like we’re not maximizing the time we have (usually an hour) to polish the main routine. I’ve been told I take the Bollywood routine too seriously, but hey, 100,000 pesos worth of Nike products is serious business! Ü Anyway, I still do enjoy myself and that’s the important thing, but I wish we could do better. There are only three days left to put everything together and I’m getting a bit worried we won’t be able to get it done.

And I’m out of time. Back to work.

Tags: Time Management, Work

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Green Day says, “wake me up when September ends.” I say, “I’ll sleep in October.” That’s because the Nike Rockstar Workout Bollywood program officially ends its run in Fitness First gyms on October 7 with a huge culminating competition at the newest FF club in SM North EDSA — and I’m going to be representing the Ortigas club!

Back in July I wrote about the launch of the program, and since then I’ve been faithfully attending classes under various instructors. Two weeks ago I got to talk with FF Ortigas’ Group X coordinator, who’s my favorite BodyCombat instructor, too. She asked me if I was interested in auditioning to be part of the Ortigas “tribe” of three club members led by one instructor. I initially said yes, then hesitated when I realized that my Saturday work hours would hinder me from attending the final. Then last Friday I was given an option to work longer hours on weekdays so that Saturdays I could work half-days. My schedule was suddenly open.

So, last night I attended the audition. There was a panel of judges from the Nike Rockstar program, one of whom was also a judge from the BodyJam auditions two weeks ago. The audition commenced like a regular Rockstar class, but at the end we auditionees were asked to take our places in front for the dance performance. I think I gave it all I got, although at one point I got distracted by the photographer whose lens was about three feet away from my face. The doubt started to creep in: was I good enough?

After the cool-down, one of the judges announced the three members who would represent Ortigas. The first number she called was mine! I felt like I’d won Miss Universe (and I probably had the same mock-surprise facial expression, haha). We club winners were each given a Nike gift certificate worth 5,000 pesos, redeemable at the Nike Forum store in Greenbelt 3.

I’m still waiting for our lead instructor to contact us about rehearsal times, but this is the last week of September and we’ll only have this week and next week to get together. I wish we had more time to perfect the routine as a group. As they say, “Rehearse, rehearse, rehearse. And when you’re done, rehearse some more!”

UPDATE: On the USA Nike Women website, this workout is known as the “Far East Funk Workout.” There are downloadable clips of all the moves in Quicktime, PSP, or iPod formats. I’ve saved them to my computer even though by now I know the moves by heart. It always pays to be over-prepared. Ü

Tags: Nike Rockstar Workout Bollywood, Fitness First Philippines

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