Second Quarter Stormer

a mental maelstrom of thoughts

[state of national emergency (daw)]

the charade that the president dictated over the tempo of mass actions yesterday definitely gives away the air of paranoia. she issued a single dicta in a day, and in a in a time of commemorating a historical first, that which a single power can be overthrown by a culmination of events, sporadic or planned.

when she declared proclamation 1017 placing the entire nation in a state of national emergency before noon yesterday, she was already in deep panic over what is really happening with her army, where as we all know, have been splintered into factions within, and might be working to a coup plot. or let's say there was a coup plot. players within that plot can be easily surmissed as 'loyal still' (querubin) or 'in detention' (trillanes), but no one within the vicintiy can say other things. if they have already explored their options and plans before the mass-up at the Edsa shrine, we could have known better that those street protests were mere commemoration of Edsa 1.

that mass-up at Edsa, and later on at Ayala, still hold a bearing. why give away Proc.1017 in this time of commemoration anyway? what happened to freedom of speech? what happened to a larger democratic space where people can freely express their sentiment, and ultimately getting it on the streets like what happened two decades ago?

anyway, splinter groups can make a larger organized rally somewhat unruly, like what happened at the shrine at noon yesterday. members of other groups engaged the police while they are already inside the block, making the organized program null. that is why, despite of an earlier negotiation, the program was cut short. and would you just look at that. there exists an organized dispersal after all, not initiated by truncheon-wielding policemen, but by the organizations themselves. that means, no need to hurt people, pis-on-ert tayo. same thing happened last night at ayala, the same group quietly and organizedly walking away (and it looks like the policemen were just escorting them away wehehe). well, that dispersal ensued in boos from the onlookers at the sideways. guess there's popular support then, if not for the group, for the call to (fill in the blank here). of course, that dispersal is a far cry too from that violent dispersal at Santolan, but of course that was a different group. hehe...

and as far as media is concerned, looks like a concerned (if that is to downplay the nuance that the word 'paranoid' can bring) president issued the proclamation to pressure on censorship. meaning, anything against the government, (maybe even this blog, wehehe) is under scrutiny of the office of the president. (see other related stories in cyberspace for more).

that alone can give a prelude that the proclamation is a prelude of a much more menacing proclamation... martial law anyone...?

so, given that while we are in a state of national emergency, things MUST be very exciting... if not, then what, give in to normalcy? stay with a president etcetera-etcetera (chenes-chenes)... and so on and so forth, while the masses toil yet remain poor?

aaahhh... so that is why we're in a state of national emergency.

[this just in]
Anakpawis Rep. Crispin Beltran is reported to have been arrested and detained this morning. Bayan Muna Rep. Satur Ocampo eludes arrest. that was like yesterday when they arrested Prof. Randy David and two others. a clampdown on The Daily Tribune, with the prospects of doing the same to more publications ahead.

and the raid at the Tribune, as what Sec. Mike Defensor said, is unknown to the Palace. gets na sana to....

ayuuuun... now we see the effects of that 'state of national emergency.' now  we MUST watch out for more.

Sirocco blew away RaDiX4EvEr at 01:12 | :: slipstream :: | comments |

[red armband anyone?]

as you guys might have been noticing lately, those Oakwood mutiny guys who escaped their cells have been calling for civil disobedience, and ultimately calling for the (fake) president to step down from power. there have also been speculated reports that a coup d'etat or even an assasination attempt is being cooked by the young officers' faction.

this is not new. remember the Gringo Honasan-led Reform the AFP Movement which led to a series of coups? remember how adventurously they tried to seize power?

so that was then. so what's new, you may ask? i see something in their statements. besides clamoring for reforms in an already decayed chain of command, they clamor still for something that pertains to the masses, to the working class, to the farmers. their rights. their privileges.

that alone is one thing for any ordinary someone who feels neglected by the state to wear an armband. and come friday, let's see who wears one.

as for me, i'll serenade GMA with a song by incubus.

"i hear you on the radio / you permeate my screen / it's unkind but / if i met you in a scissor fight / i'll cut off both your wings / ON PRINCIPLE ALONE!!! // Hey Megalomaniac / you're no jesus / hell you're no FUCKIN' elvis / wash your hands clean off yourself baby / and step down STEP DOWN STEP DOWN!!!!!" ~ Megalomaniac

(reposted from my multiply site)

[others...]

well look at that. something exploded within the Malacañang premises earlier.

looks like something CAN be expected when the weekend comes. ahehe, much more interesting times ahead, don't you think?

Sirocco blew away RaDiX4EvEr at 12:55 | :: slipstream :: | comments |

[rock the valentine's blues away]

yup, that's what i did this week. for the lack of anything else (except the usual chainsmoking and drinking binges), i chose to do what i did enjoyed the most when this kind of the week of the year arrives.

go to the sunken garden on a UP Fair weekend.

was it a mecca of sorts, as far as i am concerned, for the past couple of years that i knew of the yearly UP event. of course, it IS a week-long event, but the week-ender is the most, uhm, dirtiest of them all. no paolo santos. no nina. no MYMP too, wahahaha...

so, last night, after a long lineup of front acts (promise, i didnt saw any promising poppish bands up there, unlike last year where... hay, you know, sounds like hale or something) you got Dino Concepcion and the rest of the Brownman Revival getting the most of the accolade, a long-awaited one at that (yes, the band played for the fair ages ago, and well, thanks to the pop dive, there they are..), cavorting to everyone from those in front of the stage and those listening to a (crappy) radio station TO GO TO LIWASAN BONIFACIO SA 24th. haha, you gotta give in to him sporting that shirt. and there goes Datu's Tribe reviving their angsty music. there goes Lourd de Veyra and his Radioactive Sago Project strutting their spoken word. there goes Chito and Parokya ruining the already-politically charged air, as well as of course, Kamikazee... but anyway, it was a great night of hard rock.

hmm, what makes up this fair and the air of angst the event is known for? you can think of whatever reason, whatever that thing that pops in your head the minute you hear UP Fair. [un]fortunately that's what makes UP Fair so special. you can't really make an expectation for what it is. one minute you got a crowd, another minute you got sweaty punks, another minute you CAN get a cancelled gig. or one minute you can find yourself lost and finishing the night's lineup of rakistas and bandistas (great performances by erstwhile unknown or lesser-known bands too; panalo si bahista-spiderman ng Kiko Machine pala wahaha, talo si Manix) and even losing yourself beneath a great nightsky.

of course, through the years they banned ganja and liquor inside the fair. i can easily add that to the total air of the event, but hey, through the years, that's a lost, err, [almost] forgotten ingredient of a great UP fair.

i don't know, but i seem to be ok with where we stood. away from the frontline, where sweltering bodies mingle with the dust cloud they create. yup, i was like that years ago, ages ago where bands like The Youth, Wolfgang, Razorback, Feet Like Fins and so on and so forth were hot and slammin...'

no, i stayed behind the lines. not because i don't like getting down and dirty anymore, but hey, maybe people MUST all grow up, even if just a little bit. but i missed the times when my gang were there in the moshpit. i missed the times where ganja is legal and everyone (yes, kasama si kulangot na katabi mo) can share a hit from a joint, and maybe get hit by a plastic bottle full of piss.

that's what makes UP fair special, as far as i am concerned. yes, rock the blues away, thanks to blaring rock music, and the pure angst, emotions, and ultimately, freedom, it can bring.

ashteeg pare. rak on! \m/

(ill deal with the rest of rock music as a sole topic next time, dont worry)

Sirocco blew away RaDiX4EvEr at 21:51 | :: slipstream :: | comments |

[moonstruck]

look at that moon. labas kayo. or, here's wishing you've seen the great moon tonight...

...uhm... drift, drift, drift............ ganitong ganito yun last year...

Sirocco blew away RaDiX4EvEr at 21:49 | :: slipstream :: | comments |

[priceless... fateless]

i really haven't had a clue why i went to the Lovapalooza event last night along baywalk. yup, there IS a memory there, last year, though we hardly felt it, because our trip that time was to go somewhere else than to be lost in the crowd. but then again, that was last year.

now, all i that night as a squeeze is... uhm... a wastebasket full of roses. friends asked me if i'd be willing to help them in this fun-project they have to sell the flowers to people passing by Roxas boulevard that night. well, to put it simply, i obliged, forcing my mind to think that hell, i'm not doing anything else, so... ok... fight off the memories, get on with the flowers. and maybe i'll get a chance to see what i wanted to see.

uhm, yes, i have trepedition to do such selling thingee. it's been a long time since i last helped my parents vend fish in a wetmarket, and that was my childhood experience selling stuffy. now, heck, look at these people passing around me, knowing that they too are hard pressed at these times. why bother buy roses when in fact the CAN be practical in expressing their love and affection? nonetheless i trudged. well, i did sold pieces, but it went in trickles. was it a dare from another friend who passed by, that i went on selling piece after piece. uhm, yes, i cajoled her into the dare that i CAN sell using, eherm, my charm (insert laughter here). 'ate, hindi pa kase gumagana ung miniscule amount of charm ko wehehe.'

and so the night went by. i didn't had the slightest of expectations that i CAN sell these stuff like they were, uhm, pancakes. and what an experience it was, using nope, not streetsmart vending, but rather selling with extra panache (duh, i wore a geeky smile all throughout the night, nakakangawit din pala, others than do a chaplin). and yes, the experiences and the contact with people. there was this guy who approached me, asked me the nicest rose i can pick, and give it to a lady just nearby (yihee, mahiyain din pala ang ugok!). there was this sweet girl in a cowboy hat (pare trip ko hablutin, she told me she bought it from Texas pa!) who approached me and bought one for his guy (the guy doesn't look like a lanky though). there was this bearded macho-looking guy who approached my back as i was trudging along with my ware late in the night and bought one for his pretty sweetheart ('panalo ka ate wehehe') because he was late with their tryst.

of course there were guys i cajoled into buying roses for their 'katabi,' or i dunno whethere they were already dating, or they were all into the mood already.

the side antics there was rather, uhm, too privy for my only ear to hear. as i walked slowly along the street, i overheard (hindi ko kasalanan to ha) a couple asking each other 'ano na tayo ngayon,' while they share what each one should be doing that night, their chores, their duties, who were expecting them home. uhm... nope, i'll leave that to a much more private space, and yes, it is in silence na lang wehehe.

the night's festivities ended in a fireworks display by the bay. uuhh... fateless as i am, i almost shed a tear. i can't fight the memories off. and the questions too. was this air the same as last new year's eve...? (fateless, as it seems, then, is a misnomer, if not an understatement, for what i felt last night.)

after all the loud booms, we went on with selling what was left. well, so much for the concert that toothpaste company sponsored. duh, i have to concede that what those characters in my favorite mushy book 'After Eden' is true. you can't find love that easily. it can be fate.... or how it can move in weird cavorts, ending in a happy diorama.

that was a lost cause, for me. i have to concede with my recent loss, even if it pains me still.

add to that downfall was these baywalk patrol sequestering the rest of my wares. 'bawal magtinda dito ser..' as they grasped the roses. as i waited for my companions to come to my rescue, there they were, parting what they took from me among themselves. friggin' mad, i thought. 'tangina nyo ibibigay nyo lang yan sa mga kabit ninyo mga hudas kayo. TANGINA!!!!'

sorry for my friends. we ended up to the car, them calculating what we had sold, and thus, their deficit. as for me, i stared at the roses left unsold. then a short walk, lit up a cigarette, and looked back for the night. what lovely smiles. what a beautiful sight. what happy friends and couples made lovely with a rose. roses, which are, as i look back when i abhorred the stuff and thinking they were such and such commodities (for they were, actually), simple yet so pure... priceless, yes.

but i ended up the fateless one. a sorry me, as i hung my head down low, not from the exhaustion and the frustration from those patrolmen, but... ah, you know the story here. no valentines day for me. and no hugs and kisses too.

except that trashcan which held the flowers earlier.

Sirocco blew away RaDiX4EvEr at 15:05 | :: slipstream :: | comments (2) |

[trampling the tramps]

this early morning's news was the worst way to start a day. at past 6am, as the news channel churns, we were texted by our editor to cover what could be the worst tragedy that struck pop tv. around 70 dead in a stampede for seats and entry and a chance to win a million bucks , a tricycle and a taxi car in willie revillame's Wowowee. sad to say, too, that it happened at the show's first anniversary, an offering to the masa who supported the show.

yes, willie is not at fault. but what, then? poverty, yes, is the biggest culprit. in a land beset with hopelessness in finding a better way of living, where each day its people should live with excessive taxes and rising cost of living while they toil for measly pay, or just about enough to run through the day, yes, they will do anything just to fill their pockets and their stomachs.

but we could never forget how this is exploited by hidden forces. yes, the government is there. blame the people in those seats for inaction, or if ever they did some, over-action which tends to neglect even the simplest of it's people's pleas (like, yes, a more justified wage hike). yet there's one entity we always tend to just let pass by. there goes pop culture and its arms of coercion.

yes, im talking about pop culture and how it coaxes the poor to 'think, believe, survive, dream big' and hope to get filthy rich. there goes telly, there goes game shows, there goes the so-called reality tv. there goes willie's dream of 'helping the people,' when in fact, in the end, he'll just help a single person. not  the multitude who thronged ULTRA, not those 70 or so who lay dead after waiting for days for the big event.

remember, the show reeks in money for itself, too. and yes, in the end, the ones victimized are the 'masa' themselves.

what can be so saddening is the fact that yes, this stampede-event will just be a statistic in the next days. already, it has been lined (by the news bureau of the same tv outfit) with the likes of those that happened in Bon Jovi's concert and the more recent Quiapo's Black Nazarene tragedy. oops, they forgot the Amoranto incident last year where four - ehehe - punks perished.

in an already empoverished land, real action is needed. enough with the empty hopes and dreaming. overthrowing the government and its cohorts who pushes its people into poverty is, yes, just a starter. for there is another fight. the long fight for a genuine cultural change is necessary too. the struggle is within there, so much so that we will wake up the next day not being trampled on by scrupulous demigods of tv and the government.

Sirocco blew away RaDiX4EvEr at 20:26 | :: slipstream :: | comments |

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