Anita Baker and Rage Against the Machine

Want to hear something odd? I was driving to work this morning, and my Ipod was on its usual "shuffle songs" mode. I felt something was off when I realized that I was peacefully listening to "Sweet Love" by Anita Baker (http://www.noolmusic.com/blogs/YouTube_Music_Videos_80s_90s_-_Anita_Baker_-_Sweet_Love.shtml), only to be followed by some drum-banging on the dashboard to the tune of "Take the Power Back" by Rage Against the Machine (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mmdkh1iMT_M). Even more bizarre was the fact that I was not fazed by this schizophrenic manifestation of musical randomness.

I always thought there was some algorithm in the determination of the sequence of songs on shuffle mode, which relies on several factors such as the number of times a track is played and which songs are most similar in genre to a previously/subsequently played song. Clearly, the algorithm was out of control this morning.

Yet, despite this incident, I am a true believer in the concept of the music genome project. Our individual different musical tastes converge at a certain point with similar characteristics, rhythm, chord progression etc. So I believe that the R&B movement had a lot to do with the development of hard rap pro-communist tunes you get from bands like Rage Against the Machine. Hard sell? Maybe. For more on the music genome project, check out http://www.pandora.com/.

How diverse is your musical taste?

Home in a Month

For the first time in two years, I will be going home to Manila. Mark my words, this trip will be something else. The feeling of Christmas and the prolonged celebration of the holidays have always been the most charming of characteristics of Philippine culture. Last year's accident caused my first ever holiday season alone, and I intend to make that up with only great reunions and memories.

Getting a December vacation from work may be one of my most treasured blessings. Simply put, as much as possible, I would like to spend good quality time in Manila every year with family and friends, and this year is no exception.

Next month, however, may be extra special, and there may be more stories to tell come January. It's almost fitting that the recent Tokyo episode has spilled over into a pleasantly surprising continuing chapter in my life, and I expect that Manila may be the next chapter.

I was told 2007 would be a great year personally, and so far, there has been no disappointment.

Me and Kevin James

Last week, I decided to fly out to Japan for a few days and then fly to Vegas to attend a christening (a friend wanted me to be a godfather of her second born). I arrived in Vegas on a Friday afternoon. Upon my arrival, I was compelled to treat myself to something good, most especially after the great yet somewhat stressful events that had took place in the preceding days in Tokyo.

It really was just a choice between clubbing, watching one of the several Cirque du Soleil shows, watching a musical, or losing my money to a stupid slot machine (or blackjack table if I wanted to look professional). Instead, I found myself buying tickets to a Ray Romano/Kevin James stand-up comedy show at the Mirage. Oh boy, it was great. Everybody Loves Raymond is by far my favorite sitcom of all time. I love the fact that both TBS and CW in New York play hours of reruns everyday (along with Family Guy, and now The Office). In fact, I'm one of the few believers that the ensemble in Raymond really deserved the group Emmy, beating out Friends on its second to final season. Ray was great, and you could see that most of his jokes were still "family-related" stuff (I know it sounds prudish, but his dry humor is just ridiculous). I had a blast to say the least. The show also included Kevin James, who was also pretty damn funny. I was not a fan of his show The King of Queens (although I thought Leah Remini was pretty gorgeous), but I always thought he was a funny guy, especially in the movies Hitch and I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry (I think that's the title).

Probably 5 hours later, after drinking and gambling with some friends, I was walking back to my hotel, and lo and behold, I bumped into Kevin James on the street. With my inebriation-driven confidence, I of course stopped him and had a short conversation with the guy. He's a really nice guy!

Starstruck yet again.

Pivotal Moments

There really are great reasons as to why I have not given much attention to "Confessions of a Sensitive Man" in a long time. I knew 2007 was going to be a special year although I was slightly misled to believe through astrology and fortune cookies that everything would occur during the beginning of the year and throughout the summer. Yes, much has happened, including a short-term relationship that ended early early on (yes, for those of you who have emailed and asked, the "girlfriend" mentioned in previous posts is no longer in a relationship with me, and it has been that way for awhile). Yet shockingly, as I waited for 2008 to appear as a reminder that 2007 was just another year of earning money and having a relationship, the most amazing and unrelated phases of transformation occurred during these late months of the year. What makes it even more spectacular is that in hindsight, it appears that the entire 2007 was somewhat of an ontological change, and it is far from over entering the final few weeks of the year.

Having said that, I do not believe now is the right time to get into the details, most especially since the stories running this episode in my life are far from being complete. Accordingly, I will leave this post with some random yet related thoughts that have been the basis for this irregular and exciting sequence of events.

Do you agree that perhaps one of the most difficult things to do in life is to genuinely come to terms with happiness? We joke about the workaday world and how "work sucks" and you wish you were doing one thing over another. How frightening is it to actually do something out of the comfort zone and choose happiness?

Another thing. What is the craziest thing you have ever done? Was it crazy because it was so worth it, but the average reasonable person could never really do it? Was it exhilirating to do it? Was it a true moment in your life?

Final thing. Do not underestimate friendship. You don't know what it has in store for you later down the road.

Last week, I traveled halfway across the world for a few days and on a whim to provoke some of these questions, and I came back realizing that life was new yet again, and I am loving it. My friends said this is the craziest thing I have ever done, yet they supported me all the way. I figured that after all, as so aptly sung by Seal, "we're never gonna survive unless we get a little crazy."

Friend on Law & Order SVU Follow-up

I received an interesting reminder on my phone today. As you might have read in an earlier post, a friend will be appearing on a Law & Order SVU episode tonight at 10 PM ET. Make sure to catch the prologue before the opening credits. I believe she gets killed then...or she finds the body...or something.

I don't really watch the show but I will not miss this one. I'm starstruck yet again.