Me and My Hamster

Hello from me and Burroughs! Posted some pix on the Hamsters LJ Community. For more hamster hijinks click here. (Those who are rodent-averse need not apply.)

Rogue Party

Yvette and I will be going to the Rogue party later. Rogue is a class act: a magazine with great visuals and great writing that just keeps getting better (and yeah, I'd honestly say that even if Yvette and I weren't fairly regular contributors). :) The current issue -- dated December 2007/January 2008, with Jasmine Maierhofer on the cover -- has a brand new story I wrote, in collaboration with the amazing artist Yvonne Quisumbing-Romulo. More on that in a future blog post. Right now I needs some breakfast.

Aoki on the Decks

I got to meet and interview DJ Steve Aoki yesterday and it was the most fun I've had with an interview in a while. The man has such an appetite and enthusiasm for music -- it's really inspiring. Nothing less than I would expect from the founder of Dim Mak records, who broke Bloc Party, Pretty Girls Make Graves, and tons of other acts. We talked about the Manila crowd (this is his second time here), the changes in the global music industry, the first record he ever bought... Then I broke out the showbiz fanboy questions and asked him about Uffie (oh man, Uffie!), Lindsay Lohan, and of course his actress/ model sister, Devon. We talked about Chromeo and Kid Sister and Cat Stevens and all these other artists. At one point he got so excited talking about music he was waving his arms wildly, conducting an imaginary electronic orchestra. It was great. Applause for Styles, for bringing him here again!

Everything Must Go

Hello all! As you know, I'm going to be moving out of my home of some eleven years this December, to a new apartment. As much as I'd like to keep all of my stuff, I really do need to lose some of it. (Also, every little bit helps when it comes to making money for rent.) So: GARAGE SALE! Woo hoo! I'll be selling books, magazines, CDs, comics and some other stuff, really cheap (everything's going to be Php 5. up, with an upper limit of about Php 50). Hope you all can drop by! It'll be on:

This SATURDAY, DECEMBER 15, from 10 AM to 10 PM,
at 191-D MAGINHAWA STREET, SIKATUNA VILLAGE, QUEZON CITY

The place is in a compound with a green gate, right on the corner of Maginhawa and V. Luna Extension. Easy to find. You can contact me at 0920 678 8358 or 927 1854 (landline) for details/ directions. You can also email me at luiskatigbak at yahoo dot com.

Luis Listens

There’s this word I learned from Q magazine—“chuffed.” I gather that it means delighted, glad, pleased as punch. If so, then I am chuffed to inform alla youse that today marks the first installment of my brand new column in the Manila Bulletin: Luis Listens. Check it out, it’s on page G-4, in the spiffy i section. Here’s the blurb at the bottom: “LUIS LISTENS is a new column devoted to music. Luis was a staffer on PULP and MTV Ink, the first Editor-in-Chief of the online music magazine Pulse.ph, and is the co-founder of BURN Magazine.”

In this first installment, I react to last week’s NU 107 Rock Awards: "Last November 30, I attended the 14th installment of the annual NU 107 Rock Awards, at the World Trade Center in Pasay City. I always enjoy going to the Rock Awards—at the very least, there are always a few great performances, some laughs, lots of eye candy, and if the audience is lucky, one or two unscripted surprises, like the time Rosanna Roces flashed her mammarian assets while presenting an award, or the time the audience almost lynched Diether Ocampo for calling them jologs. At last year’s awards, there was an air of excitement, of near-giddiness—not just because NU had the good sense to make me one of the judges, but because bands were still riding high on the resurgence of rock, labels were still making good money on CD sales, and fans were enjoying releases by well-known favorites like Sandwich as well as fantastic new acts like Up dharma Down. [...] So, did this year’s awards ceremony measure up?"

I also plug Rock the Riles, and the launch of The Purplechickens’ second album, next week. Oh, and I crack some cheap jokes and threaten people with violence, but that goes without saying.

The BURN Year-Ender, Revisited

You know, I always loved those Vanity Fair issues that would focus on music or the movies and showcase the most prominent and/or interesting players in each field with great photo shoots, usually displayed in two-page spreads, often teaming up people you wouldn’t expect to see gathered in the same room together. So what I’m trying to say is, I’m really proud to be part of the November-December 2007 issue of BURN.

I know I’ve blogged about our year-ender issue before, but Denise just posted some pix of the pictorials, and you should go look:

http://dakneez.multiply.com/photos/album/223/BURN_Magazines_Year_Ender_Photo_Album

Of course, to get the full effect, you really must get a copy (available now! For the insanely low price of Php70!).

I did the short write-ups for “We Are the Champions” (Kamikazee + Kjwan), “Don’t Call Them Divas” (Sitti + Skarlet + Bituin Escalante), “Video Visionaries” (Pancho Esguerra, Marie Jamora, Avid Liongoren, and Quark Henares) and—my favorite—“Hip-Hop and They Won’t Stop” (Nimbus9, The Out of Body Special, Sinag, and Corporate Lo-Fi). A close contender for my favorite shoot of the bunch is “Soft is the New Loud,” pictured here, which features Sino Sikat, Julianne, and Up dharma Down. [Insert exclamation of rabid enthusiasm here.]

There you go: 17 pages of pix of the best musicians of 2007! Again, I applaud Denise and Conch for actually pulling this off, and am very happy to have played a small part in it. :) The immensely talented photographers involved were Tom Epperson, Carina Altomonte and Aldwin Aspillera.

Thanks Denise! :D

Couches Are Exactly 34 Awesome

Time travel, dinosaurs, claustrophobic pirates vs. hyperchondriac ninjas, and why your boyfriend hates Christmas -- all these are addressed here: 50 Answers. Never forget: Your lost socks become babies because you are so pretty.

(Thanks to Beaucoup Kevin for the link.)

Rock for Real: The NU107 Rock Awards

Went to the NU107 Rock Awards last night with Yvette. Wrote about it for Pulse.ph. Who won? Who lost? Who made me go "WTF"? Results and reactions here!An excerpt: "2007 marked the 20th year of the radio station’s existence, and the 14th installment of the awards show. We missed the pre-show, which featured a performance by Marcus Highway, but we got there just in time for the show proper, and to have our senses assaulted by a sex-themed intro video starring Asia Agcaoili, Ramon Bautista, and various cylindrical fruits and vegetables. Our main hosts for the evening were Asia, who, true to form, seemed to be wearing less and less clothing as the evening progressed (although who can blame her, considering how sweltery it got in the hall), and Zach Lucero, who looked rather dapper in a red sweatshirt that in the wrong context would have gotten him confused with a doomed Star Trek extra."