Everything is Better with Bacon.

I wonder how it would taste like mixing both?

I guess everything is really better with Bacon. And Herb and Garlic. But mostly with Bacon.

The partner found these Dari Creme flavors at Shopwise. I wanted to get the Maple-flavored Anchor butter, but this looked too tempting.

The Seven Wishes for OPM, Amended.

Click here for our Facebook site. I'm the bassist. Left-most.

A friend, Vin, linked an article on Facebook. It was about someone's Seven Wishes for OPM. As I read through it, I realized that I had a very different set of wishes. Here are those wishes, and I hope they come true.

1) I wish people would stop obsessing on the traditional ideas of "ORIGINAL" in OPM. Get over it. If it's an original song that takes from popular tropes and types of the day, then it's Filipino as long as it's made by one. Covers? Well, that's a matter of taste. Youtube? Why not? If you don't like it, then go somewhere else. The rule is: never take away from anyone who is trying. That's just a subtle sort of arrogance.

2) Songs start with the writing process. Some people think it may be easy to write, but it really is both a talent and a skill - natural and learned. However it may be, it pays to keep on writing. Didn't get the last song right? Put the lyrics, chords and melody in your library - you never know when the right pieces will come along. And if they don't, take that song as a lesson on what could be improved. Listen to people who diss you with a grain of salt - and pick up the good stuff. The negativity, just leave it behind.

3) Don't blame the kids for not going to the gigs. Face it, it's a new paradigm for kids these days. The best thing to do is to adapt to this reality. Make sure you do have online content - and through that, encourage them to come to the gigs. Learn merchandising, too.

4) Forget the hometown heroes. Just listen to good music, wherever it comes from. Regionality is great, but only if it's worth it. That way, if you do get into the music, you won't have those blinders on, either.

5) If you're in a band, always go for self-improvement. Even if you did get famous on three chords and a microphone, it pays to learn how to play better, write better and perform better. On a selfish note, you'll get damn good at impressing people. On a non-selfish note, you'll end up being a better draw and money's worth for your fans. Both are GOOD.

6) It's good to move on from the classics, but never forget why they're classics in the first place. Yes, I know we're all tried of hearing the 'Heads, Wolfgang, Razorback and Juan dela Cruz songs prepetually being covered, but there's a flip side to it: listen to these songs, figure out why they're the classics, use those lessons to do things your way.

7) Don't wish for someone to save the decade. Just wish that more people will get into music. That more people will love music. That more people will pick up instruments. Forget about saving music, just go out and play.

* originally posted in my Facebook account

I Remember.

Memory.

I vaguely remember when a famous teacher of mine in high school told the class brazenly that there were no gays in the school's theater group, which he ran. And I saw pride in his face. Of course, little did he know, really.

I remember how it was that people had (again) some sort of pride to say that the Honors Class, which I was a part of, shouldn't have any gay people in it. I wonder how this sort of thinking could have repressed other people in my shoes.

I remember how some so-called friends kept on asking me if I were gay, much in the same vein as it was if they were asking me if I had leprosy. To this day, I remember the questions and the faces.

I remember how I made so many mistakes - some of which I regret to this day - simply because I was repressed, in denial, suppressed, whatever you may call it. Up to now, I know I've hurt many people along the way, and for that I know I will carry my mistakes with me as baggage until I die, and probably thereafter. To all those I've hurt, I apologize and still punish myself for all of it.

I remember how I had a crush (a serious one!) on a fellow high-schooler, only to find out years later that we both liked each other. However, by that time, we had both changed too much for it to be anything more than friendship. Still, I wonder sometimes how different things could have been if he and I felt freer to have at least tried going out with each other, even if it were in secret. But that's in the past. I'm happy that we became friends.

I remember how I developed massive personality issues (some of which persist to this day), simply because I wanted to fit in, because I didn't want to be singled out as the gay outcast - outcast was fine, but to also be gay? It was like a double black eye, or a kick to the face when there was already a kick to the groin - yes, that's how the whole local atmosphere made me feel. Today, I know that part of my sometimes-crass demeanor is a result of all that.

I remember when my own father would tell me to stop acting gay, that it was an embarrassment to him, that it was not right. To his credit, when I did come out, he accepted me, even if there were reservations and requests not to act *too* gay.

So, friends, readers and other such, don't be surprised if at times I am the stereotype of the angry gay man, or whatever people choose to call it - activist? Disturbingly openly gay?

Do you know why gay people are so good at handling tragedy, why we make it a comedic farce, why we make fun and exaggerate the melodrama of our lives and mannerisms?

It's because if we didn't, we'd probably kill ourselves. I'm sure many people would be happy with that. But then, why should we give them the satisfaction?

That's the happy defiance of being gay. That's a part of me.

To all my friends, thank you for putting up with me. To all my detractors, enemies or however you all would wish to call yourselves, I'd like to thank you, too. Because you taught me that if you're going to be gay, you'll have to have more than the strength of any one straight man. You have to have the strength of a gay man.

Again, thank you. And for those of you who know or care, I love you, too.

Toys - Takara 1/72 Dougram Soltic H8 Roundfacer Diecast

This is one of my old favorites - It's so nice, I've owned two of them. The first one was a gift from my parents, which a friend lost. The second one, I found in Greenhills and immediately bought.

It's a 1/72 scale diecast toy of the Soltic H8 from Fang of the Sun: Dougram. It's from Takara, and the heft of this toy is, quite simply, satisfying.

I also have its "brother", the Dougram itself: