bender and mayhem

for the time being, i will be posting duplicate entries in both sbd 1 and 2.

a couple of my friends are members of unsigned bands that have been playing gigs fairly regularly these past few months.

i've never heard either of their bands play, though they do update me on their gigs. i'm hoping this post will remedy my apparent lack of support, to some extent.

you can find spoonbender at www.spoonbender.tk. the site hasn't been updated in a while, and doesn't include much info on the band, although the site plays a flash sample of their music.

their current rhythm guitarist, Johnny Duay, who's relatively new to the band and not yet credited on the site, describes their music as "alternative rock", while he says others have described it as "cute rock." the band is fronted by a female vocalist who cites Moonpools and Caterpillars, Sarah Maclachlan, and Imago as influences.

i think i hear a bit of Stereophonics on their brief looped sample.

they will be playing on April 23 at someplace called Kolumn Bar, and again at the same venue on the 26th.

Dr. Hermi Saludes of Project Mayhem describes their sound as "Fusion.. Like, Razorback with U2 and RHCP undertones with a black Francis M on vocals." the band consists completely of MDs. you can find them on the web at project_mayhem_md@yahoo.com.ph.

their next gig is on April 22 at Conspiracy Bar, which seems to be a frequent haunt for them.

*

spent the day working on four tribute powerpoint slideshows, on "commission" from my "previous employers". i honestly don't know how i could possibly charge for my services. the work has certainly taken up quite a bit of my time, but, to be honest, i wasn't able to come-up with anything more impressive than what anyone else with a working knowledge of microsoft powerpoint could have within the same timeframe.

it's an interesting job though. you get a glimpse of other people's lives, filtered through a lot of random photographs with barely a clue for context other than what's in the images, and with the occasional appearance of a familiar face.

true, i could have done some research to make the presentations arguably more coherent in a chronological/event-oriented sort of way, but i found it more interesting to let the images themselves speak for themselves. and anyway, these images will mean no more nor less (to those who, like me, never really had the opportunity to really get to know these people) than the personality each image has on its own.

whether or not i've done justice to the people to whom the tributes are dedicated, i may never know, but i hope i was able to capture a slice of the lives and the personalities these slideshows were meant to be homages to.

if not, oh well.

*

well, there you go. it can be done, after all, just as i promised. an entire post with not a word about me missing Mabel.

[starts to pat self on back, but stops, not really feeling like it]

sigh.