Wrapper's Delight

Ho ho ho, and all that that implies! My dining table is laden, not with artery-clogging foodstuffs as it would normally be, but with unrolled rolls of gift wrapper and yet-to-be-wrapped gifts. Remind me, by the way, never to do Christmas shopping in Fully Booked again, at least not until I am a kazillionaire. Not that I got anyone anything that expensive -- my friends are mostly just getting be-ribboned copies of the bookstore's free newsletter that I filched from the counter (hope you guys don't mind) -- but on every shelf, I found something I wanted. Me, me, me.

Yesterday, I interviewed Francis M, Andrew E, and Jennifer Ventura. I know what y'all are thinking: "Jennifer WHO?!" That girl needs a better publicist, if she's going to be the Philippines' next R&B sensation (and I hope it happens -- a nicer, sweeter, more earnest pop star would be hard to imagine. Then again, I haven't heard her sing yet). Meanwhile, Francis and Andrew proved that growing up with the socially-crippling impediment of having merely a single consonant or vowel for a last name does not necessarily prevent you from becoming a full-fledged hip-hop icon, at least not in the Philippines.

Later: possible reunion with high school and college friends, some of whom have come back from such far-flung, practically-imaginary-as-far-as-I'm-concerned places as Japan and the UK. Also, a gig at Gasoline Alley, with Sandwich, Imago, Sugarfree, Cambio and (yay) Pedicab performing! If only Cambio and Pedicab would make shirts in my size. Then they would be even better bands. As it is, the non-T-shirtness is seriously holding them back.

Songs on the Blender 50 Worst Songs Ever list that I enjoy, to this very day: "Shiny Happy People" by REM ("Throw your love around!"), "MMM MMM MMM MMM" by Crash Test Dummies (the only well-known song an an album full of even better songs), "The Final Countdown" by Europe (bombastic hair-metal, woo hoo), "The Heart of Rock & Roll" by Huey Lewis and the News (not my favorite Huey Lewis song by a long shot, but it's okay), and, y'know what, I don't mind hearing Blender's number one most crap-tastic song of all time, either: "We Built This City" by Starship. I mean, I don't seek it out, but I wouldn't flee from a supermarket that was blaring it on its PA system.

Now we're both getting our rock critic licenses revoked. ;p That's okay, I can try my hand at beekeeping.