outside the box

1.800.SUICIDE hotline
Saturday, July 26, 2008

Back in 1997 a friend of mine committed suicide. It was just a few days after his birthday and I can still remember seeing him hanging on a rope inside his house..

It's a long story but I don't want to share that for personal reasons.

I came across a blog at IF where a logo displays a link to the US suicide hotline. If only we had one of those here.. it could have saved my friend's life.

650,000 people are hospitalized each year for attempted suicide.

If you live in the US, and would like to help.. or would be in need of help.. please do drop by the Kristine Brooks Hope Center or go directly to register for the 99Club.

Help save lives. It's the only cause of death that is 100% preventable.

~*~*~

atomicvelvetsigh drank tea with Pandora @ 5:56 PM 0 gazing outsiders

Pinoy Music buzz: Eraserheads reunion
Monday, July 21, 2008

got a mail from my sis with this link: One night only: The Eraserheads reunion!

to the pinoy listeners esp circa 1993-95.. woah! c'mon admit it! they eventually ended as sell-outs but they have influenced your music once upon a time. right? right! so let me just repost the article here..

One night only: The Eraserheads reunion!
CHANNEL SURFING By Althea Lauren Ricardo
Monday, July 14, 2008

There was an online buzz about one of the biggest, if not the biggest, rock bands in the 1990s that alternately made me teary-eyed and caused my heart to double its beat in anticipation. I didn’t know how true it was, but, as one of the bloggers who wrote about it said, just thinking about it gave me goose bumps. My initial reaction was, “Yeah right. Keep dreaming.” After all, I know that the band in question parted bitterly—so much so that one of them didn’t even check up on his bandmate when the latter had a heart attack. But I couldn’t ignore the fact that some of the bloggers cited were sort of insiders in the music industry too.

Over the weekend, the buzz was finally confirmed, thanks to one of The Philippine STAR entertainment editor and writer Ricky Lo’s moles: the Eraserheads are going to reunite for a one night only show on August 30, 2008! The venue is supposed to be the Cultural Center of the Philippines open grounds. The other details are still sketchy, but from what I gathered during my own online sleuthing—made easy because the blog posts were careful to cite references—a corporate sponsor convinced the foursome to perform for a big event that’s supposedly free to some 35,000 expected fans.

A Blogger blog of a hardcore fan wrote an entry about his “Eraserheads Reunion Conspiracy Theory,” citing several clues, from the three E-heads’ (Raimund Marasigan, Marcus Adoro, and Buddy Zabala) visiting the University of the Philippines again with Jessica Soho to Ely Buendia’s concert in Sydney, Australia as himself, not as Pupil, where he sang Eraserheads songs like “Pare Ko,” “Maling Akala,” “Alapaap.”

One Multiply blog gave hint of the reunion on July 7, citing his “mole” as somebody who worked for the sponsoring company. According to his source, “The estranged members have been wooed since early this year and they only relented when they were offered a staggering amount of P??, 000,000.00.” The blogger also said she’s already seen the teaser posters that are going to be released soon.

Another Multiply blog posted a blind item on July 9, posting an image of a black Converse Chuck Taylor shoe as a clue. On several other succeeding updates, more clues were posted, with the last being a picture of David Lynch. In the last post, he also stressed that money was not the deciding factor.

Finally, another blog posted what seems like a teaser poster: an inverted letter E, with the numbers 83008.

Some other unconfirmed bits and pieces I picked up: tickets would be free; ticket would be on sale soon; tickets would be available for download; and the corporate sponsor has a ton of money to spend on this project (apparently, they don’t do tri-media advertising and yet lots of people buy their product).

That’s all I know, so far, but you can bet I’d be waiting to snap up some tickets as soon as they’re available—free or not. I grew up in the 1990s. In fact, I partially decided to transfer to UP because of their song “Kalayaan.” I’m not a hardcore fan—and this I know because I’ve known some—and I’ve never owned Chuck Taylors, but I do have several E-heads stories, one involving making a pretend class project, intercepting them at their That’s Entertainment guesting at Broadway Centrum, and inventing a really fun on-the-spot interview at the parking lot. There are more, but this one’s the best, my own 1990s’ “Minsan sa may…”

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credits (please visit them):
- article by althea
- pinoy band that mattered by chuchees
- eraserheads anthology album cover from cbarre

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atomicvelvetsigh drank tea with Pandora @ 7:42 AM 0 gazing outsiders

off my dropbox.. now for everyone
Thursday, July 10, 2008

here is a forwarded mail that i find unworthy to be ignored and deleted without reading..

MY ATTORNEY

After living what I felt was a 'decent' life, my time on earth came to the end.

The first thing I remember is sitting on a bench in the waiting
room of what I thought to be a court house.

The doors opened and I was instructed to come in and have a seat
by the defense table.

As I looked around I saw the 'prosecutor.'

He was a villainous looking gent who snarled as he stared at me.

He definitely was the most evil person I have ever seen.

I sat down and looked to my left and there sat My Attorney, a kind and gentle looking man whose appearance seemed so familiar to me, I felt I knew Him.

The corner door flew open and there appeared the Judge in full
flowing robes.

He commanded an awesome presence as He moved across the room I couldn't take my eyes off of Him.

As He took His seat behind the bench, He said, 'Let us begin.'

The prosecutor rose and said,

'My name is Satan and I am here to show you why this woman belongs in hell.'

He proceeded to tell of lies that I told, things that I stole, and In the past when I cheated others Satan told of other horrible Perversions that were once in my life and the more he spoke, the further down in my seat I sank.

I was so embarrassed that I couldn't look at anyone, even my own Attorney, as the Devil told of sins that even I had completely forgotten about.

As upset as I was at Satan for telling all these things about me, I was equally upset at My Attorney who sat there silently not Offering any form of defense at all.

I know I had been guilty of those things, but I had done some good in my life - couldn't that at least equal out part of the harm I'd done?

Satan finished with a fury and said, 'This woman belongs in hell, she is guilty of all that I have charged and there is not a person who can prove otherwise.'

When it was His turn, My Attorney first asked if He might approach the bench.

The Judge allowed this over the strong objection of Satan, and beckoned Him to come forward.

As He got up and started walking, I was able to see Him in His full splendor and majesty.

I realized why He seemed so familiar; this was Jesus
representing me, my Lord and my Savior!

He stopped at the bench and softly said to the Judge, 'Hi, Dad,' and then He turned to address the court.

'Satan was correct in saying that this woman had sinned,
I won't deny any of these allegations.

And, yes, the wage of sin is death, and this woman deserves to be punished.'

Jesus took a deep breath and turned to His Father with outstretched arms and proclaimed, 'However, I died on the cross so that this person might have eternal life and she has obeyed the gospel plan of salvation,so she is Mine.'

My Lord continued with, 'Her name is written in the Book of Life,
and no one can snatch her from Me.

Satan still does not understand yet. This woman is not to be given justice, but rather mercy.'

As Jesus sat down,

He quietly paused, looked at His Father and said,
'There is nothing else that needs to be done.'

'I've done it all.'

The Judge lifted His mighty hand and slammed the gavel down.
The following words bellowed from His lips..

'This woman is free.'

The penalty for her has already been paid in full.

'Case dismissed.'

As my Lord led me away, I could hear Satan ranting and raving,
'I won't give up, I will win the next one.' I asked Jesus as He gave me my instructions where to go next, 'Have you ever lost a case?'

Christ lovingly smiled and said,

'Everyone that has come to Me and asked Me to represent them has received the same verdict as you,

~Paid In Full~

If you do not pass this along to 15 people immediately, absolutely nothing will happen.

Passing this on to anyone you consider a friend, (as I have done here), will bless you both..

'Stop telling God how big your storm is.
Instead, tell the storm how big your God is!

now, it wouldn't hurt to believe in God, but there might be something to loose when you don't. what would you choose?

-----
- credits -
story: unknown, as this was just a forwarded mail
photos:
"Still waiting for the sign of God?" by: Lars van de Goor
"God's hand at work" by: kcinfocus

~*~*~

atomicvelvetsigh drank tea with Pandora @ 4:26 PM 0 gazing outsiders