Exactly What I Needed

          Last night, geared with nothing much other than my film camera, I flew solo towards Fatty's (on Rama 9). My musician buddy since high school, T-kom, had invited me to one of his band's gigs, and it was a no-brainer decision that this was how I was going to spend my Saturday night. 
          I've actually been a big fan of T-kom since middle school when I, as a kid with an old soul, was moved by how my senior, dressed in a retro cerulean suit that was evocative of the times he (and I) seem to be from, got up in front of the auditorium with only two other companions - a guitar and an amp - to lay out a very honest tribute to the King of Rock 'n Roll. By the time I was a regular inhabitant of the high school side,  I came to know T-kom as the hallway musician, making my walks to the cafeteria, guidance, or anywhere else in the school something other than mundane. What astounds me clueless each time I hear a T-kom performance, whether in a video, a pub, or outdoors, is how much better he is than the last time. I don't... I can't even fathom.... By now I've heard him play enough times to be used to his tone, technique, style, and performance... but I'm never used to it. 
          T-kom in 2012/2013 is a part of a 4-piece band, consisting of a bassist, a percussionist, a violinist, and of course the frontman himself. The first word that occurs to me to describe their sound is soul. And I shall now attempt to make up for my lack of a better word... 
          Mumford and Sons, classic rock, old school crowd pleasers, and 1 or 2 originals is an empty synopsis of their act because it says nothing about the uniqueness of a performance they serve to audiences. To begin with the most obvious, most bands they can cover will not already have violin parts in their songs. So you can be assured something new and different with their covers. Then, despite the evolution my friend has gone musically (I mean haven't we all?), he has never abandoned his blues roots. Last night, the band, Lover's Eyes, ended with an encore: their bluesy renditions of Love Potion No. 9 and Que Cera Cera. It was energy-filled, not to mention from the audience side. Talk about being known by the usual crowd for wounding guitars. 
          But for me, the end wasn't the most memorable part of the entire performance. I have 2 competitive meaningful moments from the show. One I didn't even realize how meaningful until after the show. During the night, Lover's Eyes played my favorite Beatles song, While My Guitar Gently Weeps. While I thought this was a secret known only to myself, it turned out that T-kom knew too. What he doesn't know though is how much this little dedication means to me. Lately, I've been suffering from feeling like garbage. I've been feeling like nobody gives a damn about me. I'm rational enough to not think I'm completely useless, but just the way people take advantage of the things I can do and my willingness to do them for the group makes me feel like I'm destined to be under appreciated. And that makes me not want to live in this world. I needed last night to keep me here. 
          The other moment, which I was more conscious of in real time, was T-kom's song. The one he wrote when he turned 22. I hope he doesn't take offense in me saying, but I think he and I are pretty alike. We rarely think of ourselves or do things for ourselves. Last night, he introduced his song "family, friends, wife, life" as a song he wrote about himself. Watching and hearing him sing his song was emotional because I was so proud of him for bearing himself like that. In some ways it was just like how he has always presented his work - even since the days of the cerulean suit - shameless. Yet, it was possibly the most connected I've seen T-kom to his music. Furthermore, listening to the lyrics, I caught bits and pieces that felt so relevant to my life. It was encouraging, looking at someone else who is incredibly talented, who has experienced enough trials to make him disillusioned with the world, but who hasn't let it get the best of him. 
          I needed this.

We Love Bankruptcy

          Bangkok can get overrated real easily when you live and work in the metropolis or uptown in Sukhumvit. The struggle I face in making hangouts with friends something inspiring. Because, Q: what is uninspiring? A: meals at some hip and expensive restaurant, an overdose of food pornography that'll end up an obnoxious Facebook album, cam-whoring, a stroll through the brand names, and probably another blockbuster at a first class theater. (Don't even let me get started about 3D, the gateway drug to shit storytelling in film making.) It's all unoriginal. Boring. Mainstream. Uninspiring. Who can even afford to keep this charade up? Fortunately, the perception that this is all Bangkok has to offer is only an illusion.
          It takes some curiosity, some venturing out into the outskirts, a misplaced sense of risk and a raging hunger for creativity. The ingredients to having a Bangkok adventure.

. . . . . . . . . . 

          Last Friday afternoon, geared up with heavy-duty basketball shoes, my painter's overalls, 2 cameras, a packed utility backpack,  and a snapback, I headed out to meet Clinton and Namwan at Bangna. The three of us had been chatting about this photoshoot for Clinton's senior picture/exploration of an unfinished 30-story building for a week or more. It occurred to me that this would be an adventure to go all out on the previous Wednesday when Clinton advised wearing sturdy shoes because of the hazardous things that would be on the ground. His warning was entirely called for. We had to creep on construction debris and wild branches to get to the structure.

Ninja time.

         The sky-scraping concrete skeleton looked like it had been on its way to becoming a condominium but decided to be a gritty street art museum instead. Good call. We all fell in love that day. With the art on the walls. So vibrant and stunning. And so intelligent and rebellious.

Reminds me of the song, Closer to the Edge.

Business attire.

"It's a fact: our risk calculation device in our brain isn't fully developed yet," said Namwan the psych major. 

So welcoming.

Her dynamics.

Interview session for a documentary.  He's either explaining plate tectonics or disc jockeying. I can't remember which one it was.

Look, I got creative here with arrangements.

This Would Make A Great Cover Photo.jpeg <-- actual filename

"Dead End"

          I loved shooting Clinton and Namwan here so much because it's like  freezing the moment of them in their natural environment. I feel bad for the other seniors in Clinton's class or the ones who will be next to his profile in the yearbook. Their senior picture will have nothing on his, [said the photographer of Clinton's senior picture]. But really, I highly doubt anybody else's will be as authentic and therefore beautiful as his. We didn't pose for pictures that day. We lived them. 

. . . . . . . . . . .

          When we retraced our steps and emerged from the woods back into civilization, we caught the attention of a madman. (Not trying to be poetic there.) He followed us for quite a distance along Bangna Trad, even after we made it pretty obvious we wanted nothing to do with him. Our successful desperate move to shake him off our tracks was pit-stopping at a 7-Eleven and then making a run for it to Central Bangna when he wasn't paying attention. I swear the cashiers cheered at our exit.
         After such a raw day out, we then sat in air conditioning, filling our thirsts and speaking our minds out. Inspiring.

Clinton exhibiting Post Adventure-Syndrome (PAS).

Namwan's sweet obsessions.

. . . . . . . . . . 

And we all agree that this one is the winner: 

My blog has passed 10,000 views.

Thank you.

COMING SOON: "We Love Bankruptcy"

2013

          Let's be honest. We all knew the world wasn't going to end on the 21st of December (although some of us might have wanted it to... sorry to disappoint). I actually wouldn't have minded though if the world did get swallowed up like a jawbreaker by some cute giant galactic creature - my interpretation of an apocalypse - but then again I kind of really want to see Paramore, Sleeping With Sirens, and Pierce the Veil this February, and also become a successful magazine editor after graduating from university... so thanks, whomever it concerns, for giving us earthlings a few more years.

          And besides the "pretty good" things to come, a few have already arrived. I didn't have myself a fetch New Years at some rooftop party, but I did have an epic adventure around the city with friends on the 29th and celebrate 2 special milestones yesterday with some very special people. 
          For me, 2012 ended with what I had begged for throughout the year: internal peace. And I can deduce it to two causes. I stayed home this season. And people I love came back.

Peace.