ULTRAELECTROMAGNETIC JAM

I've always been an e-heads fan. When the news broke out about a tribute album for the fab four I got really excited.



I don't know, maybe I've been expecting too much I was disappointed when I saw the line up of bands and artists on the album I had second thoughts whether to buy it or not. Save for Imago, Orange and Lemons, MYMP and Isha who brought their covers to a whole new level. I just think that not all bands in there that are deserving to be part of the album. Some of the bands in the album are just popular but not apt to sing e-heads songs.


The last time I went to Odyssey in Megamall, the cd costs Php280 only but today I bought it for Php300 from Radio City but no big deal since I've always been supportive of Pinoy artists regardless if they're indie or mainstream so I didn't mind at all.


The album has 17 tracks. I fell in love with Imago's version of Spolarium instantly. These guys never fail to amuse me. I think "Overdrive" is better sung by Aia than Barbie Almalbis. I'm a fan of Barbie but that song is just not right for her.


To wrap things up Ultraelectromagnetic Jam is a good album to add to your collection especially if you like to reminisce on e-heads popular tunes. If you just can't get enough of e-heads songs this is a must-have.

Book Review: "Sweet Miss Honeywell’s Revenge" by Kathryn Reiss

This is an awesome book I definitely enjoyed reading it. This is what I think of the book I suggest you read it too so you'll know what I'm talking about.


The Madwoman in the Dollhouse
A book review on Kathryn Reiss' Sweet Miss Honeywell’s Revenge by June Pulliam

Sweet Miss Honeywell’s Revenge is typical of Kathryn Reiss’s novels in that it is a ghost story where the past and present are intermingled by the author, in part to help readers analyze the passage into adulthood of modern adolescent girls. Reiss’s ghosts themselves are midwives to these girls’ newfound adult identities. Her revenants are bent on either reproducing through their haunting the repressive conditions that warped their own adult development, or (more positively) on ensuring that what happened to them won’t be perpetrated on the next generation of girls. Both of these types of ghosts are present in Sweet Miss Honeywell’s Revenge, a convoluted tale of haunting—populated with as many revenants as living characters.


Similar to Stephen King’s novel Carrie, Sweet Miss Honeywell’s Revenge explores female anger, specifically about how it can warp the woman who harbors it in her breast and ultimately causes suffering to those around her. Unfortunately, unlike King, Reiss does not adequately examine the source of this anger in order to demonstrate that it is not so much a monstrous aberration, but a justified, or at least understandable, if extreme response to external stimuli.


Sweet Miss Honeywell is the stereotypical bitter Victorian spinster. Angular and unyielding, Miss Honeywell is the governess to the spirited Primrose Parson, a poor little rich girl with eternally globe-trotting parents who leave to servants the task of molding children into adults. These children are then expected to grow up and occupy a position in society far loftier than that of their teachers. In order to shape the adolescent Primrose into a future wife and mother, Miss Honeywell deprives her charge of all childish enjoyments, such as trips to the park and free time to play, instead of demanding she spends her days immersed in dry intellectual pursuits. And when Primrose’s attention inevitably wanders, Miss Honeywell is quick to discipline her with a ruler, a strap, or a lengthy stay in the closet. The spirited Primrose rapidly grows rebellious and plays nasty pranks on her governess. She, for example, pinches her nose shut with a clothespin as she sleeps, which only earns her more punishments.


During one of their infrequent visits home, Primrose’s parents bring her an elaborate dollhouse, with dolls representing everyone in the household, including Primrose and Miss Honeywell. When Primrose complains to her parents that her governess is overly strict, they mandate that their daughter be given some daily free time to at least play with her dollhouse. One of Primrose’s favorite games is pretending that the other dolls exact a sadistic vengeance on the Miss Honeywell figurine.


Meanwhile, Primrose witnesses the complete humiliation of her governess: Miss Honeywell is enamored of Primrose’s math tutor Mr. Pope, and the two often take afternoon tea together, ostensibly to discuss pedagogy. During one of these sessions, Miss Honeywell confesses her love and begs Mr. Pope to make her his bride. Mr. Pope, unfortunately, doesn’t share Miss Honeywell’s sentiments and spurns the governess’s advances. Primrose spies on the two, and her resulting laughter gives her away. Miss Honeywell’s wrath is swift and strong—Primrose is locked in the punishment closet overnight.


Infuriated and with much time to kill, Primrose picks the lock to the closet door and steals away to play a nasty prank on Miss Honeywell—she positions her governess’s water pitcher above the frame to her bedroom door so she’ll receive a soaking when she enters. Miss Honeywell will be unable to blame Primrose since she retreats back to the closet after setting up the prank. But the joke goes horribly wrong: the falling pitcher fractures Miss Honeywell’s skull, killing her instantly. Primrose conceals her crime by cleaning up the evidence and again retreating to the closet, leading everyone to believe that Miss Honeywell took an unfortunate and inexplicable spill. Of course, Miss Honeywell becomes a vengeful ghost and inhabits the governess doll in Primrose’s dollhouse.


Flash forward 90 years. Zibby, a tomboy who only wants to spend her birthday money on new in-line skates, is stuck at a miniatures convention with her mother. Suddenly, Zibby is inexplicably drawn to an antique dollhouse being sold by a strange old woman. The price for the house is $186.73, the exact amount of cash Zibby has in her pocket. Almost as if she is not controlling her own actions, Zibby quickly makes the transaction, although doing so also requires her to sign a document acknowledging that she is now the rightful owner of the house and that there are no exchanges or refunds. Later Zibby doesn’t know what possessed her to buy the dollhouse, a toy she would never in her wildest dreams want to have.


When she gets home, Zibby decides that she doesn’t want the dollhouse in her room, so her mother moves it across the hall. This is when Zibby discovers that she has purchased no ordinary toy. Upon waking the next morning, she finds the dollhouse returned to her own room. Zibby accuses her mother of moving the house in the night, but her mother denies doing soon. Over the course of several days, the dollhouse is moved to several different locations throughout the house, but it keeps returning to Zibby’s room, with the malicious-looking governess doll perched on its roof. Soon Zibby’s friends see the house and discover that whatever scenario they enact with the dolls comes true, but always with unforeseen, negative consequences. For example, her friends next door are currently living with their grandparents while their own mother and father do missionary work in Africa. They use the dolls to enact a scenario in which their parents return for Christmas. The next day, they get the news that indeed their parents will be home for the holidays, but only because one of them has been terribly injured. So when Zibby’s soon to be step-sister pretends that her mother will be beheaded on her wedding day, she must unravel the mystery of the dollhouse to prevent worse things from happening.


To understand the mystery of the house, it is necessary to discover the history of its owner, Primrose, and all of the people involved in her life, who are all now contained within the antique dollhouse.


Sweet Miss Honeywell’s Revenge is an extremely complex ghost story with multiple revenants, some who haunt one another, in addition to haunting the living. Also, the novel jumps through time in a way typical of Reiss’s ghost stories, shifting between the perspective of the haunted living and the dead as they were in life. Like many young adult novels, Sweet is extremely well crafted and appeals to an adolescent audience not by talking down to the readers, but rather by centering the story on characters their age (source: http://www.lsu.edu/necrofile/vol19.htm).

Top 10 Rock Albums of 2005

Posted by Thrasher (http://thrashersblog.com/) on 12/09/05 @blogcritics.org


1. "Z" - My Morning Jacket MMJ's "Z" is definitely not causing Zzzzzz's. While Jim James doesn't like to be compared to Neil Young, we still like him because he reminds us of Neil.


2. Back To Me - Kathleen Edwards "Much of the disc stomps along like Tom Petty touched by some of Neil Young's ragged glory, but Edwards is often at her best when she's at her most subdued."


3. "Okemah and The Melody of Riot" - Son Volt Jay Farrar seems to be channeling Woody Guthrie's spirit.


4. "Kicking Television" - Wilco Another example of why live music is better.


5. "Countryman "- Willie Nelson OK, so Willie doing reggae is not Bob Marley, but it's still fun to try.


6. "Live at the Fillmore" - Lucinda Williams Influenced by Neil Young's Live Rust with minimal talking and excellent live recording fidelity.


7. "Cold Roses" - Ryan Adams and The Cardinals" The results suggest what Whiskeytown might have sounded like if its brand of alt-country had absorbed the influences of Neil Young and the Grateful Dead and had replaced its fiddle with steel guitar."


8. "Forgotten Arm" - Aimee MannA concept album in the best of traditions, from music, vocals, down to art design. Sort of like Greendale on the dark side of town.


9. "Howl" - Black Rebel Motorcycle ClubA big departure from previous work. And that's a good thing. Totally uncategorizable music. Johnny Cash meets Jesus and Mary Chain. Acoustic, rockabilly, feedback, goth American rock. I don't know what it is, but I like it.


10. "Devils and Dust" - Bruce Springsteen [The song] " 'All I'm Thinking About", seems to be either a homage to or parody of Neil Young. It features a rough approximation of Young's wobbly falsetto and lyrical references to his doomy 1970s track 'Don't Let It Bring You Down', allied to the sort of carefree Chuck Berry chug that the perennially troubled Young couldn't muster if you put a gun to his head."

Paramita's "Tala"

At last! After a week of waiting, I finally scored a copy of Paramita's debut album TALA. I'm really excited to listen to it, in fact, I'm playing it right now.


When the lady from Radio City hands me the CD the cover, the design instantly caught my attention because it's like one of those Japanese Kimono prints I thought it's really cute. Another thing I like about the packaging is that it doesn't have an acrylic case cover, just a carton sleeve. I like it because I get clumsy sometimes I'm kinda worried about breaking the case. Inside you'll find the lyric sheet separately so you can bring it along even if you're away from your cd player or pc in case you'd like to sing along with their songs.


There are 12 tracks in the album all songs are written by Ria Bautista, the band's vocalist/drummer. I noticed that Ria's songwriting is simple and honest. Among my favorite tracks are Hiling and Takipsilim. They may be new as a band but they're good for starters in the music industry.

For more of Paramita visit their official site www.paramitamusic.com/

Fudge Bar Heaven

Aside from being the Summer Capital of the Philippines, Baguio City is also known for broomsticks, foot rugs, knitted stuff, ethnic furnitures and of course its yummy treats such as Choco flakes, Lengua de Gato, Pastillas, etc.




If you've been to Magsaysay marketplace and happen to pass by pasalubong stalls there you might have seen a jar of Fudge bar but won't see it everywhere not even in Mine's View Park that's because not all the stall sell them. A jar costs Php 60-65.00 depending on how good you are when it comes to haggling. I'm not quite sure what it's made from because the label doesn't say the ingredients, just the manufacturer's name. I think it's butter cookie with chocolate, nuts and raisin fillings. It tastes so darn good me and my twin sister can finish a jar in just one sitting especially if you're watching TV.


If you visit Baguio don't forget to try this Fudge Bar I'm talking about you'll keep coming back for more.


Sweet!

Life Is Precious

I was helping out my niece to find photos of people going against the 10 commandments of God for her C.L.E (Christian living education) project last week and Yahoo gave me an interesting link for the 5th commandment Thou Shall Not Kill, showing pictures of aborted babies some during their early stage. There's also a video of abortion being performed on an 11th-week fetus ultrasound I didn't even bother to take a peek I've seen one in my health class back in Highschool it still haunts me up to this time.


I thought this is very informative so I'd like to share this with everyone who values life as much as I do.


Heres the link:
http://www.geocities.com/pregnancyhelpnow/abortionphotolinks.html

Mane 'n Tail

I've been hearing a lot about this Mane 'n Tail Shampoo my sister and I agreed to give it a try. At first, I was a little anxious it might cause hair loss or something. I know, such a strange thought, right? I heard stories about hair products that actually led to some serious effects so you can't blame me or maybe I'm been reading too much scary news.


When I was young I learned that but before products are distributed in the market they undergo series of laboratory tests they usually test these products to animals if it is safe for them then it is also safe for human consumption.

This Mane 'n Tail Shampoo is quite I think.  A medium sized bottle costs Php299.50 ($32.48) but of course, it's not just any ordinary shampoo, it's a grooming shampoo for horses. I'm a little curious so I did a little research. I saw an advertisement for this shampoo from a mail order shopping site called "greenhawk.net." They claim to be one of the largest equestrian supply retailers and e-tailers in the world. I also read the product information it says "protein-enriched formula that cleans all hair types thoroughly. Will not strip natural oils. Rich, fragrant lather that cleanses gently and provides body, shine, manageability, and healthy looking hair."


I tried this shampoo earlier I didn't notice any significant change in my hair until I went out to buy some stuff under the scorching heat of the sun I noticed that my hair feels softer and it's shiny too when I saw my reflection in the mirror. I guess this may work for me but I haven't really used it for a week so I'll wait and see.

Barbie "The Singles"

I just bought Barbie Almalbis' "The Singles" album yesterday for Php350 which is not bad considering the fact that it's a collection of all her hit singles including "Torpe" and my personal favorite "Firewoman" from her previous band Hungry Young Poets to her current band Barbie's Cradle.


The album contains 18 tracks plus a bonus VCD of 12 of her music videos and live performances at Gotham Bar. I kinda like the vibe of "Independence Day" it's actually my first time to hear the song as well as her version of "Pangarap" there's another version sung by MYX VJ Karel. Barbie's version is way better because of its simplicity and the subtleness in her voice. This album is a must have especially for those who haven't got the chance to own any of her previous albums. I wasn't able to score a copy of their debut album back in her Hungry Young Poets days. I only have 2 of her previous albums, the Self-titled one and "Breakfast from the Buffet Table." Good thing Firewoman and The Dance are both included in this VCD. I didn't like most of Barbie's Cradle music videos to be honest.  I enjoy Barbie's unique vocal quality and her musical style and if you're a fan of hers like myself, you'll definitely love this album.

G-Mag

I've been reading a lot of girly magazines these days I find it kinda unusual of me. I just found myself enjoying reading the articles and looking at pictures of beautiful women, clothes, make-up, etc.


I used to simply ignore these type of reading materials because you just can't help but envy these beautiful women it makes you change the way you look at yourself sometimes. For some reason, these magazines make you want to try stuff they advertised just to be surprised that they don't look good on you. It's a pretty good reference sometimes especially if you're the type of person like myself who love to experiment on make-up, clothes, and accessories.

Creepy Cab Driver

It's a Saturday, I'm home alone. My sister had to go to work today so I'm all by myself. I haven't slept yet when I got home this morning. I'm not sleepy yet, but while I'm writing this I'm starting to feel the heaviness in my eyes.


It took me quite a while to get a ride home this morning until I finally saw an empty FX I didn't hesitate even if I'm the only passenger. I usually prefer to ride an empty FX, I like sitting beside the driver's seat and hate getting squeezed by other passengers. I want my money's worth and that is comfort. On my way home I thought I heard the driver asked me where I live. He even asked if I was listening to my phone's radio but I pretended that I did not hear anything so I did not respond to his query. I honestly don't feel comfortable talking to a stranger. I supposed he's just trying to start a small talk maybe he's bored, or he finds me charming, or whatever, but I really don't care. I'm not being snob, it's just that I find him intrusive and not all passengers are willing to talk about anything they might be tired or paranoid or just simply not in the mood. He gives me creeps. I might be the paranoid one but you'll never know whom to trust these days.

What to do with creepy drivers?

Sleep, Eat + Chicken Pox Scare

I had 8 hours of sleep. This week's a drag I deserve a lot of good sleep.

I haven't eaten a lot yet that's why I'm quite starving now. I just had chicken soup and Magic Flakes crackers for dinner, and that's about it. I don't eat a lot on weekends because if I do, I won't stop eating. If I give in to my cravings I'd want more until my eating will be uncontrollable again. Worst, I can't wear most of my clothes again. I don't want to get fat and it's not that I'm too figure-conscious, I just find it inconvenient for me not being able to wear what I like just because they won't fit anymore.


Anyway, the chickenpox scare just won't leave me alone about two weeks ago my sister had chickenpox, now it's my niece's turn. I just hope that my anti-pox vaccine will save me.