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About batjay

I am an overseas filipino worker. Now, I am part of that "babalik ka rin crowd" you see around christmas time, arriving at the NAIA in droves from all over, gold chain around their necks, in jeans and maong jacket, ray-ban shades, goatee, and baseball cap, pababa pa lang ang eroplano kinukuha na ang hand-carry luggage at nagpapalakpakan na't handang halikan ang lupa pagka-landing!

ROCK MUSIC 101

so, you want to be a rocker, huh? if so, then pinakamagandang magsimula kay elvis at sa beatles. pagkatapos nito, anything goes na… pwede ka nang makinig sa punk, heavy metal, classic rock, pinoy rock, folk rock and anything in between.april 1956, Elvis’ single “Heartbreak Hotel” became number 1 – “the message may not move you…” ika nga nina peter, paul and mary but what a song it was. sino ba naman ang matatouch sa lyrics na…

Well, since my baby left me,
I found a new place to dwell.
It’s down at the end of lonely street
at Heartbreak Hotel.
You make me so lonely baby,
I get so lonely,
I get so lonely I could die.

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A PREY OF WORMS

“In the life of a man, his time is but a moment, his being an incessant flux, his sense a dim rushlight, his body a prey of worms, his soul an unquiet eddy, his fortune dark, his fame doubtful. In short, all that is body is as coursing waters, all that is of the soul as dreams and vapors”

– marcus aurelius (roman emperor)

“sa buhay ng tao, ang oras niya’y saglit lamang, ang katauhan niya’y bumbiliang sabon, ang pakiramdam niya’y nagmamadaling ilaw, ang katawan niya’y nagdadasal na bulate, ang kaluluwa niya’y madaldal na action star, ang yaman niya’y maitim, ang kasikatan niya’y kahina-hinala. sa madaling sabi, lahat ng parte ng katawan ay basa, lahat ng kaluluwa’y panaginip at gamot sa ubo at baradong hininga.”

-boknoy’s translation

BAGONG TAON SA PILIPINAS

MAHALAGANG PAYO: “mangulangot ka pagkatapos na pagkatapos ng putukan sa bagong taon” -payo mula kay kuya jay david

pasko at bagong taon sa pilipinas, bow…

isda best in da world! wala sigurong katumbas ang pag-diwang ng pasko sa sariling bayan – biro mo eh, september pa lang eh may mga pamaskong kanta na sa radyo… asahan mo, september 1 eh nag-uunahan nang mga radio station na magpatugtog ng “aysawmamikissing santaclaus” ni Michael Jackson kasama ang mga utol niyang Jackson Five.

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WHERE YOUR HEART IS

Picture of my Tahanan with Jet and Datu

miss ko na ang bahay ko…miss ko na ang aso kong si datu…miss ko na ang garden ko….miss ko na ang pilipinas…

gusto ko nang umuwi…gusto ko nang matulog sa sarili kong bahay…gusto ko nang kumain ng adobo at kanin sa dahon ng saging na nakakamay…gusto ko nang magsalita ng tagalog…gusto ko ng kumain ng pansit bihon guisado na hindi maanghang.

gardemet kasing mga tao rito eh, nilalagyan ng chili sauce ang pansit. pag walang chili, walang lasa. pag may chili, maanghang… where will i place myself? in tagalog, saan ko naman ilulugar ang sarili ko pag ganyan ang pagkain?

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THE FELIX LEGION

australia is prepared to launch a ‘pre-emptive’ strike against its neighbors. sabi ng kaibigang kong egay na australianong kutis bayag na tulad ko, eh di raw uubra dahil 20 million lang ang population ng australia samantalang 380 million naman ang combinend population ng pilipinas, indonesia at malaysia.

sabi ko naman eh baka sakali pwedeng umatake dahil si gladiator at mad max ay australians na pwedeng tumulong.

pag nagkataon bago umatake ang australia, may sisigaw sa kanila ng…”My name is Maximus Decimus Meridius. Commander of the Aussies of the North. General of the Felix Legion. Loyal servant to the true Emperor, Marcus John “Pre Emptive Strike” Howard Aurelius. Father to a murdered son. Husband to a murdered wife. And I will have my vengeance in this life or the next”

1979

Don’t let me drift too far,
Keep me where you are
Where I will always be renewed.
And that which you’ve given me today
Is worth more than I could pay
And no matter what they say
I believe in you.

i believe in you, from the great Bob Dylan’s Slow Train Coming album. what made this lp great? wala lang – si bob dylan lang naman at si mark knopfler ang gumawa ng album. naalala ko pa nung unang lumabas ito… 14 years old pa lang ako. binili ko ang cassete na ito sa halagang 18 pesos sa isang record bar sa santiago, isabela. ang daddy ko kasi ay na-assign sa isang radio station sa norte at lumipat kami doon ng isang taon.

ang taon ay 1979, to be exact.

1979…mother theresa wins the nobel peace prize, margaret thatcher becomes new prime minister, john wayne dies, apocalypse now is shown on movie theaters, stephen king comes out with The Dead Zone and the world population reaches 4.3 billion people.

“1979”…di lang ito kanta ng SMASHING PUMPKINS (sample lyrics for epeks…”And we don’t know Just where our bones will rest, To dust I guess, Forgotten and absorbed, into the earth below”).

1979 was a great year of music.

1979 was the year dire straits released their 2nd album – Communiqué – “They wanna get a statement for Jesus sake, It’s like talking to the wall, He’s incommunicado no comment to make, He’s saying nothing at all…”

1979 was the year The Atlanta Rhythm Section released their “underdog” lp, ang paborito ng bayan ay ang kantang “do it or die”: “don’t let your troubles make you cry, don’t waste a moment wondering why, when everything goes wrong, you have to on and do it or die…”

1979 was the year Supertramp came out with their best lp called “Breakfast in America”… and of course the best song was…what else: “The Logical Song”

When I was young,
it seemed that life was so wonderful,
a miracle, oh it was beautiful, magical.
And all the birds in the trees,
well they’d be singing so happily,
joyfully, playfully watching me.

But then they send me away
to teach me how to be sensible,
logical, responsible, practical.
And they showed me a world
where I could be so dependable,
clinical, intellectual, cynical…

this was my song – my Logical Song… 1979 was the end of the innocence…

Remember when the days were long
And rolled beneath a deep blue sky
Didn’t have a care in the world
With mommy and daddy standin’ by
But “happily ever after” fails
And we’ve been poisoned by these fairy tales
The lawyers dwell on small details
Since daddy had to fly

1979 was the year my daddy had to fly… ang galing ano? 14 years old pa lang ay full of music na, kaya lang nga eh walang daddy.

PRANING

on the closing of the australian embassy in manila…i.e., the PDI article: Islamic radicals seen behind Australian embassy threat – Nov. 28, 2002

sobra naman ang australia sa pagkapraning… di ba ang australian embassy sa pilipinas nasa taas ng building sa makati? eh ang higpit na nga ng security sa mga building natin eh. di ko naman sinasabing walang threat sa kanila – pero, to close it down, i think, is admitting na sumuko na sila sa mga terrorist. kaya tuloy inaalaska sila ni doctor mahatir ng malaysia eh. last week sabi niya – “australia has to decide whether it wants to become a part of asia or become a puppet of the united states”.

sabagay di ako magtataka – pati nga singapore, binigyan nila ng security notice.

mahigpit ngayon dito pero subtle lang ang dating… especially sa mga airport. marami ngayong sundalo na nagpapatrol sa loob ng mga terminal na may mga assault weapon na hightech. marami ring biniling mga bagong machines to scan for chemicals, metals, etc. pati na rin ang mga container terminal sa singapore ay equipped na rin ng mga on-line analyzers para pwedeng mag scan ng mga container van during the loading sa mga barko. ang kagandahan lang eh – di mo ito masyadong mapapansin. for example, sa airport nakatago sa mga basement ang mga machines at di mo makikita na may scanning na nangyayari.

sa mga kalye na maraming puti – temporarily closed ang mga ito. especially around holland avenue and the boat quay areas na kung saan maraming tambay na mga foreigners na umiinom at kumakain. so kung pupunta ka rito, park ka sa malayo o kaya mas pinaka the best – mag taxi ka na lang or bus.

ewan ko – better to be prudent than to be sorry siguro. i guess they have a reason to be extra careful. problema lang ay minsan too extreme ang mga measures that it becomes a pain.

15 days na lang.