smitten to the end

that twisted ambiguity and contradiction of the british, and that nauseating romantic side of the french, combined in a song.

smitten to the song, to the end by blur.

karaoke songs

boybands were one of the causes of arguments i had with my sister during my high school days. but if she happened to know that a number of songs i find success singing in a karaoke with were boyband songs, she had the last laugh.

songs that i think i find success singing in a karaoke with:

you'll be safe here by rivermaya (people seem to consider them a boyband after bamboo's exit but i disagree)
summer of 69 by bryan adams
like a child by backstreet boys
the one by backstreet boys
bop bop baby by westlife

i quipped: adolescence

adolescence in a man's life, i believed is the most interesting and unforgettable for the reason that this is the time when he experiences the first stirrings of love, power to change, responsibility, etc., and after going through with life after quite some time, he discovers that everything seems to be overrated.

brit rock junkie

suede never attained the popularity of other brit rock/pop bands such as blur and oasis but i like them more than two. musically, i root for riff-driven songs. other than this, after reading the artist profile of its vocalist, brett anderson, i root for his convictions.


Portrait of the artist: Brett Anderson, musician
by Laura Barnett

'Rock's not all carnal glamour. You spend a lot of time sitting around backstage, fiddling with bits of cheese'

What got you started?

Being brought up in a very unusual way. My mother was an artist and my father an obsessive classical music fan. We were very poor: if you wanted something – clothes, art for the walls, ­furniture – you made it yourself. So when I started ­becoming interested in music, and couldn't hear the music I really wanted to hear, I tried to make it myself.

What was your big breakthrough?

Writing The Drowners with [Suede guitarist] Bernard Butler. We had been trying to write something in the vein of classic songwriters – Beatles, Bowie, Velvet Underground – with a modern, twisted, sexual edge. With that song, it felt like we'd unlocked a door.

What have you sacrificed for your art?

Everything, really. During the 1990s, nothing was more important to me than my songs. I saw my personal life as a bizarre experiment; as long as ­interesting songs came out of it, I didn't care about my health or ­happiness. But you can't carry on living like that – or you end up mad or dead.

What one song would work as the soundtrack to your life?

Trash, by Suede. It's about believing in the romance of the everyday.

What's your favourite film?

The original version of Sleuth. It's ­brilliantly acted and dramatic. I love it when art is brave enough to be ­economical and minimal, and doesn't rely on explosions and shiny lights.

Which other living artist do you most admire?

[The film director] Michael Haneke. His films are full of tensions and ­darkness, but he seems like quite a balanced ­human being. I don't believe you have to be a tortured soul to make tortured art.

What's the best advice anyone ever gave you?

No one has ever given me any advice. I've had to do everything for myself, and claw my way through my own ­little private forest.

What's the biggest myth about the rock world?

That it's a procession of carnal glamour. It's actually about spending a lot of time backstage, sitting on grubby sofas and fiddling with bits of cheese.

What advice would you give a young musician?

Don't do it because you want to be ­famous or rich, but because you want to make beautiful music. When you die, the music is all that's left.

In short,

Born: Haywards Heath, West Sussex, 1967.

Career: Lead singer with Suede, who are reforming for a one-off charity show in March. Also released three solo albums. Performs at the Shepherds Bush Empire, London (0844 477 2000), on Friday, then tours.

High point: "Going from the dole queue to being No 1 in the charts with Suede."

Low point: "The moments leading to Suede splitting up."

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

everybody's a celebrity (4 years hence)

do you think that those who rely so heavily on social media to interact with others are training themselves to communicate only at the most superficial level?

reilly: yeah, for sure. i think that facebook is the biggest waste of time, because everyone is just presenting such a filtered picture of themselves. You only put up your best pictures. people only check in when they are at the fanciest restaurant in the city. they only keep things up there that are flattering to themselves. i just think it's like keeping up with the joneses, but for life. you're never going to get on top of it. someone's always going to have a better job than you, go on better vacations than you, have a better looking wife than you, or whatever it is. so, it's superficiality on top of superficiality. you never get to see the real parts of people.

source: www.yahoo.com

he seconded my observation four years ago.

i quipped: happiness ii

one problem with knowledge or awareness is that you gain it as you aged, as life progresses, that when you already know what is valuable, what is important, what really would make you happy, you might already be frail, old...ravaged by time.

now i understand the film, the curious case of benjamin button. i wish life could only be lived that way.

isle-hopping vice

she is one of my crushes from the british isles. she is now in the philippine isles for the bourne legacy shoot.


it must be the accent. it must be the eyes.

(Photo courtesy: PDI)