KALAMPAGAN 2014

What's supposed to be Cavite's biggest and most historic concert this year turned out to be most rock fans' biggest disappointment. 

I found out from a news article that the three main bands WOLFGANG, RAZORBACK and GREYHOUNDZ haven't been in the same event since 1999. That was a good decade and a half ago! Hence this event was considered by some as a 15-year reunion of these three greats.

The ticket says the venue is at Montano Hall in Cavite City. For some reasons, they setup the stage at the Cavite High Oval instead. But still okay, rockers won't mind standing or sitting on the grass since ticket prices are reasonable, or shall I say very affordable at 150 for general admission and 250 for VIP.

The event supposed to start at 4pm on May 17th, but due to some delays it started at around 7pm. 

There are a about a dozen front acts before the big 3 (as they are referred to) will play. Most opening acts are indie bands from Cavite ranging from alternative, grunge, classic rock to hardcore metal. Most of them, I must say performed well and some even wowed the crowd.

The weather that day was scorching hot, in my estimation about 34 to 36 degrees. There are refreshments and snacks at the venue, but not much variety. The pares tasted good though, and very affordable, perhaps the most affordable filler available. As expected beer is a bit expensive, a 12oz cup half filled with ice is sold for PhP20, not to mention that the beer is thinned 'cause it was already mixed with some ice in a jug.

These are some of the things I had experienced at the said concert, I guess these are the little things that one didn't notice much as after the event issues, speculations and rumors are everywhere.

Wanna know the reasons as to why the concert was stopped? I want to know too.


Here are some snaps (I'd taken only a few due to the hot weather, I used up whatever energy I have real fast):

Nonetheless, it was fun. We saw a lot of friends and even made new ones. It could have been better, it could have been awesome. And as expected, it could have been epic.

My My Hey Hey

Ricky and I were having some Classic Rock kind of conversation last night. I asked him a few questions about Neil Young as I had heard him sing a few of his songs in The Junkyard. At home,
we listened to some Neil Young music and we kinda talked about the man.

Neil Young performing Heart of Gold, 1971

I was so amazed at how advanced this man was. Yeah, he was a performer in the 1970’s, a time when singers have to be dressed to kill and have to look oh so neat and shiny. Well, he kinda dress like Cobain; flannel, simple trousers, unkempt hair. He was so full of talent but he ain’t boasting, not a bit.

flannel shirt, work boots and unkempt hair, made people of the seventies wonder, 'what the hell is this man up to?'

He is considered the Godfather of Grunge music. It is apparent that he has influenced a lot of grunge groups both in music and attitude. He plays his music with such talent and attitude; and obviously with some wild passion about what he is doing.

I tip my hat to the Godfather of Grunge, you still rock!  (Neil Young_2013)

This particular Neil Young song got my attention: My My Hey Hey. The first stanza goes like this:

My my, hey hey

Rock and roll is here to stay

It's better to burn out

Thank to fade away

My my, hey hey

Cobain once quoted in his “suicide” note that “it’s better to burn out than to fade away” a line from My My Hey Hey. Obviously, the grunge icon himself is listening to good old Neil.

The last part of the song goes:

Hey hey, my my

Rock and roll can never die

There's more to the picture

Thank meets the eye.

Hey hey, my my.

And I couldn’t agree more! Rock and roll can never die. Some rock stars did die young, but it is through their death that the legacy not only continues but flourishes.

*I’m kind of reminiscing the good old nineties, and the likes of Kurt Cobain, Layne Staley and Shannon Hoon.  

Kurt Cobain, Shannon Hoon and Layne Staley. RIP. 

What's your purple?

Hi there!

It's been a while and I haven't written anything. I have some on draft, most are lengthy ones. So, I decided that I'd write shorter posts. Just so, they get finished and published before my excitement dried out.

So, there you go. I posted a picture of these lovely lippies on my facebook:

Of course they are yours truly's kissers.

For the matte look, I used Excel Paris Matte Lip Cream, given to me as a present by my sis-in-law. She well knows that I'm daring enough to wear that shade.

I wore it with this look:

After a while, I smoothed on a coat of the luminous Dior Addict lipstick in #499 Mystic Mauve. Well, this particular lipppie is expensive and I was just lucky to get it free from a Dior product seminar when I was still with Beauty walk.

It has been one of my favorites, although not very wearable.

And this is how it looks like with the rest of the makeup:

Bold colored lipsticks goes well with simple eye makeup but can be paired with bright high fashion ones, too. And because I missed my favorite palette, I opted for the latter. 

To create this look, I used my beloved brand name treasures, as well as my new found local products that are affordable yet trustworthy ones.

Here they are:

Branded products used

Dior Addict lipstick 499 Mystic Mauve, Lancome Le Crayon Khol black eyeliner, Elizabeth Arden Color Intrigue eye and cheek palette in Cool. Dior 5-color eyeshadow palette in Extreme Blue and Clinique Quick Blush in Peach in-a-pinch.

They've been sitting in my drawers for a while so I'm not sure whether they are still available on counters since some of them are limited edition.

affordable yet trustworthy finds

As for those inexpensive products used. I have found these lovelies rather easy on the pocket but with good and satisfying results too. 

Here they are: Kokuryu Summer Cake in Orange Blush, Myra Vita Smooth pressed powder in Light, Avon Metallic liquid eyeliner in Starry Black, Nichido brown eyebrow pencil and Excel Paris  matte lip cream.

It is good to invest in a few expensive products especially that our face deserves them but it won't hurt trying on some things that will save us money. Just make sure to cleanse thoroughly and moisturize afterwards.

Hope I'll be writing more of these kind of stuff soon.

Many thanks to my dear kumare Rose for the Nikon Coolpix camera. I can snap anything anytime for my blog and my facebook as well.

This is Halloween

Oh well, it’s been a while since I last wrote here. It feels awesome to be back after a long slumber! I miss blogspot, I miss my friends who read my post and I miss sharing my thoughts. I was just so overwhelmed by working at home that for a few months I prefer to spend my idle time doing chores instead of sitting in front of the computer and writing about anything and everything under the sun, as I used to do back in the old office. Well of course I kinda miss the office, too. I miss how we used to eat dinner together and those Angel’s foodtrip, shake, sandwich and whatnots.

And of course, what better timing to be back than Halloween. It has always been Siouxsie’s favourite time of the year! It is somehow the start of holiday festivities.

For this year, Siouxsie chose to be Joker. Ironically, she has always regarded Batman as her best superhero. She has been dressing up as Batman for the longest time and has more Batman figures than any other toys she owns.

I guess due to her fascination of Batman that his arch enemy would be the perfect villain, thus making a wonderful Halloween character. As we can see, she’s really in character as she stepped on the stage to present her costume.

As parents, we’ve been so excited and it took us a long time to come up with the Joker theme. Though we thought about it a few months ago, we’re hesitant whether our little Batman would agree to be Joker. Another thing is her long hair, unlike her previous characters that have long hair; Joker should have hair no longer than shoulder length. A haircut is not an option as Siouxsie’s long straight hair is the only girly thing that she likes. So we initially ditched the Joker idea but thought about Ricky dressing up as Joker instead. Two days before Halloween we still can’t think of something, then one afternoon while walking inside a mall, Ricky noticed the small plastic switchblade knife similar to that of Joker’s. We bought the toy and that’s when we decided to make her Joker.

Preparation time is too short as well as the budget. So just as what we always do for the past three Halloweens, we made a costume out of whatever resources that we have.

Good thing Siouxsie owns a collared shirt, purple pants and black boots. Then I have to reverse one of my purple tank tops and put some cardboard buttons to make it look like a vest. Julius, my brother, has a Batman tie, and I find it funny and cool for Joker to wear that tie. And what completes the look is the plastic switchblade knife similar to what Joker uses.

The tricky part is the hair do. I have to tease Siouxsie’s hair and tie it in a loose pony tail so that it will appear shorter. And because there isn't much time, I cannot go to the supermarket to purchase a spray-on green hair color. I bought a colored hair gel instead. The same one that I used to style her hair so that it will somehow resemble 

Joker’s side swept locks. Not satisfied with the result of the applied gel, I dust her hair with bright green eyeshadow powder. Oh I guess, I made a wonderful job at that.

Siouxsie enjoyed her villain look while trick-or-treating with the other kids. She just loved her costume! It took a while to convince her to go home and change her clothes.

I can say that Siouxsie is a Halloween kinda kid. She’s always excited to join the neighbourhood trick-or-treat, not just because of the candies and treats she can have but more because of the costumes that she wears.

I wish I could dig up some old photos but they are saved in my now broken laptop. Siouxsie’s first trick or treat was 2006 when she was just a year and two months old, she wore a bumble bee costume. It was actually a Pikachu romper, a black bonnet with two tiny plastic antennas, and a pair of bee wings out of worn stockings and some wire. She wore them with her leggings and black shoes. She’s just so lovely on those!

       On the next year she wore a Chuckie (from Child’s Play) inspired outfit. Denim jumper paired with red and white striped long sleeves shirt. When she’s three we bought her a skeleton suit, however she still refused to be made-up. But the following year, she used the same suit only she agreed to be face-painted. That is when she fully appreciated wearing a costume and dressing up for Halloween. She was so happy at the attention she and her costume is getting. It was a delightful experience for her and from then on, she’s uber excited for Halloween.

On her 5^th Halloween, we decided to dress her up as Captain Jack Sparrow that is because that time she’s really crazy about Pirates of the Caribbean and she has a few pirate stuff that we can use for her costume. As always, we improvised the costume with whatever’s available. That’s when she became very popular among kids and grown-ups in our village. Then last year we dressed her up as Edward Scissorhands using cardboard boxes and aluminium foil to make her scissor fingers. My dear friend Cherish Marasigan, who’s a free lance makeup artist, did a wonderful job on her makeup.

She’s just so into costumes! So, even if she doesn’t feel like dressing up girly, we convinced her to join the church presentation for Easter Sunday and a school presentation for United Nations.

I guess her fascination with Halloween is natural and also influenced by her dad. She’s a big fan of the movie The Nightmare Before Christmas, and is always fascinated with anything with skull patterns. On the other hand, her dad has been active with the community activities regarding Halloween. For a few years he’s been leading a team of young people decorate the vacant lots of our subdivision every Halloween. They use junk and recycled items. And I try to be supportive by donating some clothes or stuff that they may use for the dummies and props. Not to mention that I don an exaggerated makeup as well.