Week that Was and Witless Wonderings

Tuesday: The band Craeons rocked it at the otherwise droll Rock to Save A Life show at the Hard Rock Cafe. There were 6cyclemind, Callalily, Moonstar88 and Cueshe (I slinked out before their set), but Craeons surprised me the most, only because I pegged them to be raw, untalented set-fillers. They weren't half-bad, especially the vocalist, who, after a few sessions with a vocal coach to rein in her powerful wailings, might just give Armi Millare of UpDharmaDown a run for her money.

Friday: The "relaunch" of the old Inihaw Republic along Katipunan to what is now Route 196 saw the likes of The Dawn, The Spaceflower Show, The Ronnies, Chilitees, Juan Pablo Dream and old staples Johnoy and Kakoi pack the crowds in despite the late night showers. Of particular interest to those who want their music lively and frenetic are the Spaceflowers and Juan Pablo, of course. With a Pinoy pizza in one hand and San Mig in the other, it was a good way to end the working week, and to start off the partying weekend. The fact that there wasn't a cover charge made it even sweeter.

Saturday: An invite from a co-worker I couldn't say no to: the Meg Anniversary party at the Rockwell Tent in Makati. After dinner at nearby Som's, we made our way inside the Tent, which was brimming with the pre-pubescent set; I'm just in my twenties, but I felt ancient next to the young ladies in their mini-skirts and the totoys with their gelled-up hair. Good music though: we caught the Terno set: Swissy, Paramita and UpDharmaDown, plus ChicoSci. We left after hanging out backstage, just as the models started sashaying down the runway. It was raining kittens and puppies when we got outside; too bad we only had Rihanna's "Umbrella" and not the real thing.

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EVER NOTICED....

...That it’s not enough for movie sequels these days to have just the corresponding ordinal number? There were a dozen Rockys and Rambos, but all the movies after the original just had a simple numerical symbol appended after the title. These days, that don’t cut it. Both sequels to Pirates of the Caribbean didn’t even have numbers: they had separate titles apart from the branding of the original: Dead Man’s Chest and At World’s End. (Of course, the original was also called Curse of the Black Pearl, but how many knew or even cared apart from the diehard fans?) For every Spiderman and The Godfather that spawned the austere “Two” and “Three,” there’re dozens more with fancier sequel titles. Sometimes, they’re not bad, like “Terminator 2: Judgment Day,” “Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me” and “Meet The Fockers.” Other times, they’re so-so to just plain rotten and insipid, like “Next Friday” and “Friday After Next,” “The Matrix: Reloaded” and “The Matrix: Revolutions;” and “Babe, Pig in The City.” And do they really have to call it Die Hard 4.0? What’s the point zero for? Do they really want to associate it with a crappy software version?

...how action heroes have the initials JB? I was in the shower one morning when it hit me: there’s Jason Bourne, Jack Bauer of 24, and arguably the most well-known JB of them all – James Bond. What gives? (A quick Google search and it turns out I’m not the only one who noticed). Maybe it’s a coincidence, maybe it’s on purpose, who knows?

...that there're North, West and East Avenues in Quezon City, but instead of South, everybody calls it Timog Avenue? There has to be a logical explanation. Not that I need to know anytime soon, but I'm hoping somebody can enlighten me.