For the love of Dave

Okay, I admit.

I’m a big fan of mp3s.

I’m not much of a CD person. For one, they’re expensive. Yes, they’re cheaper than an Emily crib, but it hurts to spend so much money on a single CD. >_> Another thing is, the CDs of the artists I like doesn’t even reach our shores. I can get stuff from my dad, but at the back of my mind, I’d rather buy a book than buy a CD whose mp3s I already own.

I know, I know. If you love the artist, you wouldn’t mind spending for them…but that’s why I spend all out if the artist has a concert here. I mean, I even sell tickets for their events. Then again…that’s not the same. And not all artists I love actually come here.

Oh, but it’s not that I haven’t bought a CD ever. I’m a proud owner of two Jennifer Knapp albums, Warren Barfield’s first album, Building 429’s Rise, an Avalon CD given by Ganns, Our God Reigns by Hillsong, Audio Adrenaline’s Hit Parade, 2 Jars of Clay CDs and 3 of Switchfoot. It’s just that I’d rather download them since it’s easier…and yes, it’s “free.”

Now before you go all mad at me and scream, “PIRAAAATE!!!!”, let me say something first. It wasn’t until I got to meet one of my favorite bands, Switchfoot, till I changed my mind.

Backtrack to that concert, I bought two of their albums (Learning to Breathe and The Beautiful Letdown, and I managed to convince Tim Foreman to give me the broken Oh! Gravity CD for free :P) for the purpose of having them signed later on (it’s also why I bought Jars of Clay CDs before, just in case I can have them signed, at least I have CDs). I got them signed, yay, but that doesn’t mean I’d stop downloading, right?

A few months later, Switchfoot becomes independent, and then Jon releases his two EP, Fall and Winter. I was tempted to just download it, and I saw someone upload it on Multiply already. And then I remember how I sold CDs during their concert. I realized that I really loved this band, and because I know them personally, I can’t just rip them off or else they won’t be able to produce music anymore (took me that long to realize that, huh). It was then I decided that I’d buy his EPs online, and so I did (and they rock).

Now another one of my beloved artists, Dave Barnes, is releasing a new album soon. And I’m so darn excited. But I don’t want to just download his album. It doesn’t feel right anymore (and it should never have felt “right” in the first place). Now I admit I wouldn’t have found out about him if not for my friend’s patience in getting his songs, and I wouldn’t be able to even find out about him…but now that he’s releasing a new record, I thought I’d show him love as a fan and I’d actually pre-order his CD¹. Yes, I will actually buy it. Thing is, it ships only in the US and on April. I have a friend who’s in the US right now so I guess I can ship it to her…but then again she goes back to the country on May. Can I wait that long?

Hm. I can, I can! FOR THE LOVE OF DAVE! And hopefully after that, I can save enough of my online earnings so I can buy his other CDs. :)

Oh, and I haven’t downloaded a song or album for the past three months. That’s a good thing, right? :) I’m hoping to find a way to actually buy all the CDs of my favorite artists, just so I can give back to them for making such great music. Give me time (and money), I’ll get them all. Promise.

And one more thing. Before I go, if you don’t know who Dave Barnes is…well, here’s a sample of one of my favorite songs:

1. I’d pre-order it because I get more perks with the pre-order than if I just buy it after it’s released :P [«]

Twilight (Stephenie Meyer)

Rating:

About three things I was absolutely positive.

First, Edward was a vampire.

Second, there was a part of him — and I didn’t know how dominant that part may be — that thirsted for my blood

And third, I was unconditionally and irrevocably in love with him.

I just finished reading this earlier, and I seriously have no idea where to start reviewing this. It’s been a long time since I finished a novel this thick (498 pages!) in two days. I read The Cubicle Next Door in 2 days as well, but it was 340 pages only, and it’s chicklit so it’s easier to digest. Anyway, when I finished reading this novel, all I could do was sigh, and be thankful that I found a paperback copy of New Moon, its sequel, so I can follow what happens with Edward and Bella. No paperback copies for Eclipse yet, but if I’m desperate enough, I’m really buying the next one on hardcover. :P

Onto the book. The basic story of the novel is this: Bella Swan is an ordinary 17-year old girl who moved to a small, always raining town called Forks. She meets Edward Cullen in her Biology class, and she is mesmerized by him…but he seemed to hate her the moment he saw her. Still, Edward intrigued her, especially when he was all friendly to her the next week. He saves her from an accident, and she eventually finds out that Edward is a vampire, and they fall in love. Edward and his family were the “nicer” kind of vampires who feed on animal blood instead of humans, but Bella’s humanity doesn’t change the fact that she is still prey for them, especially for Edward.

If I spill anything more, I’d be giving spoilers so I will stop there. Twilight is a young adult book that is quite different from all I have encountered before. It is dark, romantic, heart-stopping at times, and it even has some witty lines that would make the reader chuckle. Since it was written quite recently, the technological references aren’t hard to grasp - internet, cars that range from really old vintage ones to posh new ones which probably has car spoilers.

Two things I’d really like to stress on the book are the following: first is the characters, and second, is how they interpreted love and purity in the book.

(More…)

My Album Cover

I need not to be a singer or a member of a band who can make reservations in Las Vegas hotel to have an album cover, yes?

Okay, so maybe I’m ust slowing down my reading (even if I mentioned how excited I was to read everything I have in the previous post). Edward and Bella making me too excited. Eh.

MY ALBUM COVER
Instructions:
1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Random
The first article title on the page is the name of your band.

2. http://www.quotationspage.com/random.php3
The last four words of the very last quote is the title of your album.

3. http://www.flickr.com/explore/interesting/7days/
The third picture, no matter what it is, will be your album cover
You then take the pic and add your band name and the album title to it, then post your pic.

Here’s my album cover:

Okay…my band name sucked, the album title sucked and finally, the image looks like it should go on a cookbook instead of an album. I didn’t even take the time to read what Gaius Cluilius is. Heh. Or this could be an album about…food?

What the heck. :P

Twilight, and other books

For the past month, I haven’t been doing much reading. I felt a bit guilty for not doing so since I promised myself 50 books this year…and see how much I’ve been reading. *points to counter* See. And I haven’t budged from my 24 remaining book reviews, which means I’m totally falling behind. There you go.

Yesterday, after packing my stuff for the building transfer at work, I walked around Eastwood while waiting for my brother. I visited Toy Town to check if they have some rubix cube for my brother, then I dropped by A Different Bookstore, but didn’t find anything interesting, only books about camping gear. Since my brother hasn’t texted yet, I headed to National Bookstore to see if there was anything. I wasn’t really planning to buy anything since my dad is about to arrive with the books I ordered plus I badly need to finish Pride and Prejudice before I lose what I understand of it so far (classic novels with old language make me do that :p). But the moment I stepped inside National Bookstore, I knew I just had to buy the book I spotted: Twilight by Stephenie Meyer.

I only heard of the book from Ate Toni, but I never found the book. But yesterday, there was an entire display at National Bookstore, with the next two books also available (but not in paperback, huhu). I immediately took a copy of Twilight to the counter, and to my delight, it was 25% off. :D

I’m halfway through the book and I am loving it. I think it helps that I could imagine Robert Pattinson as Edward Cullen, so it’s easier on the image. It’s a mature young adult book, and since it’s new, it’s very easy to relate to. And I know this last thing is kind of shallow, but I love that the book is so thick, meaning there’s more to read. That probably didn’t make sense, but what the heck. :P

I have a feeling Lizzie (the other and newer credit card) will be exercised again in the next few days as I think once I finish this book, I will buy the next two ones, even if they are in hardcover (unless the paperback versions come along all of a sudden :D). I’ll definitely post a review of this once I have finished it, and I’m pretty sure I would have fallen in love with all the characters by that time. :P

But wait, there’s more! :P My dad arrived today with my stash of new books (as if I don’t have enough books waiting to be read, heh), which would definitely perk up my reading activities:

Top to bottom: Stargirl Journal, The Message Remix in Hypercolor Pink (my second one), 50 Reasons I Love Being Catholic by Liz Kelly, Miss Invisible by Laura Jensen Walker, Sushi For One? by Camy Tang, Twilight by Stephenie Meyer

Yay. :D I still have a lot to finish reading, but the excitement of these new ones just fueled my desire to read them as well.

Now I’m off. Must not let Bella and Edward wait. ;)

Pets

I’m supposed to be writing an outline for my Special Interest Group (SIG) presentation tomorrow afternoon…but I break my “progress” (if you call writing a very rough outline that) by blogging about something else: pets.

Totally random? OH YES.

Yesterday, our five year old cat we call Nanay (because she’s the only mother cat in the house…third generation, yo!) gave birth to three kittens. I saw the kittens earlier and got to pet one, and they were all so cute! Kittens have really bad luck in our house. We used to have about 11 cats, but some of them died while others ran away, and now we only have two, plus the three kittens. The thing is, those kittens will either (1) die on their own or (2) get run over. One time, our only kitten got eaten by a rat (!). It has yet to happen where our dog, Batman, would take a bite out of those kittens…but I don’t think Batman is capable of that…right?

Anyway, I’m hoping these kittens (kittehs?) grow up and be not afraid of humans, unlike all our other cats. >_> Seriously, this other cat we have, who we fondly call Punggok because of his short tail, jumps even at the merest movement towards him. Eh. I’m really hoping that these new generation of kittens would survive and would be “real” pets. You know?

I’m planning to get my own cat when my brother gets married, just so I can have my own pet. My brother and his girlfriend has Maggie (this really cute beagle who is now back at my brother’s girlfriend’s house) but since I don’t think I have the time to take care of a dog, it’s cat all the way! I want to get a Siamese cat just like my teammate, because I hear cats with breed are closer to humans. Plus, I really want to experience taking care of a cat that I actually paid for you know?

But not until my brother gets married.

And then I saw this. And I’m all…awwww!!!

Now I also want a bunny. I know rabbits are relatively easy to take care of, and quite affectionate…but they smell awful, as I read. But then…cats smell bad too, so who am I to ask that. Heh.

…Like I really have time to take care of pets. Really now. I should stop thinking about which is the best buy among pets, and work on this presentation before going to bed!