This is the third cup of Ice Scramble I have had this week. This would have been incredibly banal, except for the fact that this is three more than the ice scramble I have had within the last five years-combined. It seems to me that Ice Scramble is making a come back. There are things which seem to be very trendy this year. I am writing this down so that I do not forget it.

1. Ice Scramble. Most every train station has an ice scramble stand. Most malls that I go to has at least 3 ice scramble stands. Shopwise Cubao has 2 ice scramble stands. Correct me if I am wrong, but it seems that ice scramble is a fad this year. Ice scramble is made of pink crushed ice with evaporated milk. It is nothing spectacular but it is very cheap making it popular for those who want to quench their sweet tooth’s.
2. Potato Curly-cues. Potato curlycues is a piece of potato on a stick. It is cut in such a way that it looks like a spiral staircase cued horizontally. Obviously, it is made of potatoes. On very rare occasions, children who have finished eating their potato curly-cues use the stick to stab other people making it an ideal snack for these kids. My sister said that these curly-cues are very popular among those who go out on dates.
3. Fashion Blogging. It also seems that a lot of people have transformed into fashion bloggers these days. Anyone with a camera and access to the internet takes their shot to be a fashion blogger. Some of them are really creative and sophisticated. A lot of them, however, give fashion-blogging a bad name. There are those who I really like to read because of their fashion sensibilities. (My sister and I agree on a certain fashion blogger whose posts we really anticipate. Who is she? We occasionally comment on her blog, heehee. If there is a fashion blogger I would like to see a fashion line of she would definitely be top of mind.) There are others who leave so much to be desired when it comes to fashion blogging. Sometimes, I think that just because they have lookbook.nu, they immediately assume they are fashionable.
4. Chillwave. Chillwave is a music genre characterized by effects and synthesizers. Many from the indie crowd seem to like the genre this year. I have a community which I go to for music, this community shows a heightened interaction and discussion when the featured artist is from the chillwave genre. Toro Y Moi, Memory Tapes and Neon Indian are but some of the most popular chillwave artists.
5. Hospitality Arts. Despite the current threats to Philippine tourism (threats which include the hostage crisis and tourism bans) it seems that hospitality schools are sprouting left and right. Before I started working for ASHA and The Cravings Group, there are but a few schools offering hospitality arts or hotel and restaurant operations. Now, there are more than 30 trade schools offering a similar program. (This does not include the 5 ASHA branches and ASHA-Summit Ridge Tagaytay) The program for hospitality and restaurant operations include housekeeping, barista, bartending, hotel management and hotel bookkeeping.

N misses the old-school ice scramble vendors wherein the manong ice scramble vendor has an ice mixer that he uses to mix the ice scramble by hand.

The Magnetic Fields' 69 Love Songs will remain to be one of the most brilliant albums of all time.

I think some of my friends would know how much I gush about The Magnetic Fields. The Magnetic Fields is my favorite band of all time, battling it out with Stars (the Canadian band). The mere mention of Stephen Merritt’s name would bring a smile to my face. I believe that The Magnetic Fields’ 69 Love Songs is the most perfectly written album of all time.

Getting on with the program. The 100 songs meme is one started by Baddie, right here, and is said to be the songs you would want your future children to listen to. Friends who are also doing this meme are here, here and here. Drop by their pages for their ongoing count, as well. The entirety of my list here: the 100 songs meme. I actually started writing this series more than a year ago and I do not know why I am only reminded to continue writing about it now.

69 Love Songs could easily be the most brilliantly written album of all time–at least for me, so please do not  go on referring to Radiohead’s Kid A/OK Computer or The Flaming Lips’ Soft Bulletin–to each his own, brotha’.

I love the sketches and the way that album was approached. 69 Love Songs is a piece of timeless songwriting evidence. Stephin Merritt is brilliant and understands what it means to be in love. It does not only exhibit Indie Folk songwriting, but as well as jazz, world music, and other musical styles. So, here we go:

41. I Don’t Wanna Get Over You

Easily my favorite Magnetic Fields song, I Don’t Wanna Get Over You admits what most people refuse to admit: I will not get over you, if I can do something about it. There is a reference to Albert Camus, whose most famous work is The Stranger which talks about a man who went into an emotional coma (lost any feelings) when his mother died. Clearly, this a reference to the lack of the feelings of the character in the beginning of the novel, a feeling which the singer in the phone is avoiding.

I could dress in black and read Camus, smoke clove cigarettes and drink vermouth like I was 17 that would be a scream but I don’t want to get over you.

This is also the first of the Magnetic Fields which I heard, I was feeling melodramatic over this boy I refuse to get over.

42. Epitaph for My Heart

I love how the song opens with:

Caution: to prevent electric shock do not remove cover/ No user-serviceable parts insde Refer servicing to qualified/service personnel

It was one of those melodramatic songs which were made funny controlled by the fact that there was humor in the lyrics–albeit, arguably, dry.

43. Papa Was a Rodeo

44. Yeah! Oh Yeah!

Easily the funniest song in the entire 69 Love Songs, which features Stephin Merritt and Claudia Gonson singing a murder ballad. The murder was done in the home of the husband and wife, wherein the wife was killed with a knife (hee, it rhymes) by her husband. She was killed because she whines too much and because she can’t sing. Funniest part would be the “nyah, nyah, nyah” part wherein Stephin Merritt pokes fun of “his wife”.

45. Reno Dakota

Reno Dakota is one of those heavily filled with pop-culture references, and I love it. At first listen, I thought Reno Dakota was an arbitrary name until I searched for Pantone 292. Reno Dakota is a film-maker. Hist most famous piece was a documentary which had a cult following. There is a reference to the color Pantone 292 (which was sung after the word blue) as Pantone 292 is a sort of blue color. There is also a reference to the Godfather as the score of the first 2 Godfather movies was written by Nino Rota.

Reno Dakota I’m no Nino Rota, I don’t know the score.

46. Absolutely Cuckoo

Don’t fall in love with me yet / We only recently met

Why can’t people be as honest as this in real life?

47. I Think I Need a New Heart

The Magnetic Fields’ I Think I Need a New Heart is one of the strongest evidence of Stephen Merritt’s songwriting wit. He is funny but his control for delivering wit and honesty is just too impeccable.

48. Asleep and Dreaming

This shall be the first song in my funeral march. Never forget.

49. Zebra

Ah, materialism at its finest. I imagine someone I know singing this to someone I know making it seem like an inside joke for me. I like the way this sounds like a waltz, the funny things she asks him to buy for him. I like the irony in the lyrics wherein they empty the Louvre because they already have so many tchotchkes making the articles in that museum seem uninteresting and artless compared to a zebra.

50. Come Back from San Francisco

Ah, long distance love. Imagine singing this to someone over the phone who is three time zones away.

My brother said that he does not get the Magnetic Fields. True, it is quite hard to be able to get them. Perhaps it is acquired taste. I do not care, I love the Magnetic Fields that for me, they can not do anything wrong in my eyes. Call me Captain Favoritism, the Magnetic Fields will remain to be one of my most favorite bands in the world.

Upon hearing a friend’s death, one is prompted to recall what one has done in the past year. It makes one wonder if one has touched enough lives in order for their most recent friends to attend their funeral or even cry at their wake. The news of a death is different for everyone. It makes me wonder what I had donein the past year. In fact, upon hearing it, I immediately wanted to do more things, all at once.

As a “note to self” of sorts, here are things I promise myself that I would do.

Here are things I promise I would do less of:

1) Smoke.
2) Drink. Maximum of 3 drinks in one sitting. Except for birthdays. No other exceptions. Drinking maximum of twice a week.
3) Sleep late.

Now, if any of these things are on your list, please tell me so we can do it together.

You said "send me stationary to make me horny"
So I always write you letters in multicolours
Decorating envelopes for foreplay
Damn extended metaphors, I get carried away

This entry is brought to you by the huge-ass smile plastered on Kathrina’s face. Now, moving on. I seem to see these lists littered all around in my google reader and my livejournal friends list. Considering how unoriginal I am, a best and worst list of Kathrina’s 2009.

Tomorrow, I will write my New Year’s Resolution, you bet that "DO NOT PROCRASTINATE" is not in the list.

This I had promised to do to Alex and Elaine. I got this from Elaine, Alex, Joy, Helga and Jean.

1) Kathrina suffers from Short Attention Span. Once I was with a friend who was discussing Filipino Films from the 80s and how it might have influenced the movie we just saw. I was imagining how it could have been possible, oh wait, "Christmas is coming up, how about a gold headband?".

2) Something Always Comes Up. This might perhaps be the reason why her last real relationship failed. Something always came up, dates had to be cancelled and plans made one month earlier have to be compromised. All of her scheduled first dates this year were moved to another date, because things come up. This includes her getting sick, her getting removed from her job prior to this one, a funeral, a hospitalization, etc.

3) Kathrina likes Batman more than she likes you. Batman is a metaphor for any boy that I like more than the next guy. Unless of course, you are Batman himself. (If you have been my friend since 2006, you would know this fact by the love letters she writes to Batman.)

4) Kathrina is a damsel in distress. She gets coins thrown at her face, she gets lost a lot, she gets stranded in the middle of knee-high floods during a typhoon, she gets scared easily by slasher films and zombie movies, and the occasional "something always comes up". She makes up for this by not letting people take her home, sleeping in a bed with a singing doll in a bunny hat, and by not bothering you.

5) Kathrina has a lot of vices.

6) Kathrina will have a hard time remembering your face. This is because remembering people’s faces is not really her best suit. You better not feel sad about the fact that she is a little disabled in this department.

7) Kathrina likes to write about you in her blog or in her secret blogs. Apart from this annoying trait, she probably had gushed about you or dissed you to her friends, her twin sister and to her dogs.

Next time, similar to hardsell, I will write a post on WHY YOU SHOULD DATE KATHRINA.