BLEACHERS BREW EST. MAY 2006

Someone asked me how my blog and newspaper column came to be titled "Bleachers Brew". It's like this, it's an amalgam of sorts of two things: The bleachers area in the stadium/arena where I used to sit when I would watch baseball, football, and basketball games and Miles Davis' great jazz album Bitches Brew. That's how it got culled together. I originally planned on calling it "The View from the Big Chair" that is a nod to Tears For Fear's second album, Songs from the Big Chair. So there.

Thursday, December 11, 2008

Up at Night


It was already 2:30am and I was already feeling the weight of a long day. Stevie Nicks and Fleetwood Mac were on my iTunes and the soft strains of "Landslide" seemed just right with the silent night. I was running on adrenaline. I came form a meeting with my buddies at Fabilioh putting the finishing touches on a calendar that I badly wanted to do for so so long. And I, we, couldn't be more pleased.

I figure it's a nice way to end a miserable year for me. Cheer up, said one dear friend. After all, we won the UAAP basketball title. I let loose a chuckle.

And I hear Stevie pierce through the black:Justify Full
"Can I sail through the changing ocean tides
Can I handle the seasons of my life

Well, Ive been afraid of changing
cause Ive built my life around you
But time makes you bolder
Children get older
I'm getting older too."

My phone rings at the ungodly hour of 3am and it's my friend Sam from NYC. He's Egyptian yet he loves hip hop. Have you ever heard of a Middle Eastern guy speak like Ludacris? I chuckle once more. He calls and wonders when his homeboy (me) is going back to the Big City. He teases and says he's glad that Kobe and the Lakers got waxed by the Sacto Kings. Yeah well they lost but at least the Ateneo Women's and Men's Volleyball teams won today. Huzzah! I swear Sam looks like a big palooka with bling and a Knicks David Lee jersey. Is there anything more absurd? Take that, bro! I'm gonna laugh now.

Earlier I was with Jeff Long, Kirk's dad, and he sought my help in making a vid and a presentation for MVP. Between deadlines and projects, dashing to and fro, I made it. We've talked so long about it and it's only now that I've found the time.

Imagine what some potable water can do for a community's lives? It's an incredible thing that most people take for granted and I can't wait to write and do a video about it. Ha. Look at me. Still a crusader after all these years.

In fact, some of the most enjoyable pieces I wrote this year -- well, there's the NU series, the Homeless World Cup Team, and Dacki Sandiego, the kid with Asperger's Syndrome -- have been on many people's favorites.

Funny because I should be careful for what I wish for. I'm still trying to push for Afghanistan as a war correspondent for a foreign news bureau. That's something I've wanted to do for the longest time and so far I've passed a few tests and am just waiting for a go signal to which military unit I'm going to be embedded with.

Kinda crazy, huh? But as much as I love sports, there's more to life than that. Going to Thailand to write about a Burmese refugee camp sort of knocked me for a loop. Maybe I should blame that on Bill Carter. That book has had such a profound effect on me.

Is it frightening? You, bet? One day in a war zone is a day too long. I figure I'll be all right though.

Hey, Liverpool's on. Replay though. I shut down my desktop and laptop. I lie down and watch for a few minutes then I'm asleep.

Music for the insomniac (no I don't have insomnia), I just felt like saying that so sue me.
Stella Was A Diver and She Was Always Down - Interpol (I would walk the Bowery at 1am and I'd feel this song on a rain-swept street)
One More Last Kiss - Ivy (if you liked listening to the Pet Shop Boys then you'll love the sentimental groove)
Like A Rolling Stone - Bob Dylan (OMG! How does it feel? How does it feeeeelllll?)
Destiny Calling - James (one of my favorite Brit Rock bands)
Learning to Fly - Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers





Picture up above: Me wearing the new Up Dharma Down shirt promoting Bipolar their second album.
Picture to the right: Alone on the wharf in Macau wearing my Liverpool home kit. Mai took this shot from behind.

No comments:

Post a Comment