Nownow began as a series of mixes Petra made for the music blog we used to run. A nownow mix is a bunch of songs that are:

- the single songs from a freshly-acquired album that happen to appeal to me most
- music that has recently been associated with a particular experience
- a song i smoke to
- guilty pleasures
- classic can’t-let-go songs

the NOWNOW turnover rate: the reason i call it NOWNOW is because it changes almost every day. songs get added, a couple get taken away. the really high turnover rate makes it forever new. this is my fickleness in its most flattering light. it’s the one playlist i’ll never tire of, & i’m happy to share it with you guys.

And now, I’m going to steal/revive this idea. Nownow is for the things I have been consuming and/or obsessed with as of late. Hopefully it’s helpful, entertaining, etc. At the very least, it’s documentation for myself.

Clockwise from the top left:

• The Drums’ Portamento, which I have been listening to a lot ever since coming back from Singapore. I’m scared I’m going to get sick of it so I put it on rotation with The Pains of Being Pure at Heart and Death Cab for Cutie, in preparation. Anyway, I love Portamento because it’s refreshing and nothing exactly like I’ve heard before. Also, I’m pretty smitten by Jonny Pierce. He’s amazing to watch perform.

 

• Daytum! I’ve abandoned and come back and abandoned etc. over the last few years. I’ve found a great use for it, though—tracking everything I need to track, i.e. savings for big purchases, work hours. Plus, it provides a visual of my work vs. play vs. errands.

 

• My Planner! I used to be attached to my planner’s non-existent hip. And then, I wasn’t, and then my life fell to pieces I became super disorganized. This is to get me back on track, and so far it’s working. Plus, it’s really pretty.

 

• COCO SUGAR. THIS IS THE BEST SUGAR SUBSTITUTE I’VE EVER COME ACROSS. I was skeptical (but hopeful!) at first, because something this good couldn’t possibly be a healthier option, but lo, it was. It’s safe for diabetics because of the low glycemic index, and it has a lot of nutrients. No dangerous chemicals, additives either. 100% natural. Hard to believe, but I’m just happy this exists and that we make it in the Philippines. I want to make my lola try it. I’m tempted to just eat and eat and eat it but I’ve read that sweeteners in general aren’t particularly healthy, heh.

 

• Solaris by Ferrania, which is a film I’ve coveted and found in Singapore! Part of me wishes I had hoarded, but I’m waiting for my roll to develop so I can decide if I should ask someone to get more for me.

 

• My Lomo LC-A+. I put this away for a while because I didn’t understand how to use the focus (lol) but Shine taught me estimates, so I’ve been taking it out whenever I go out of the house. Exciting!

I hope I can do this every week or month. Just to keep track and remember and sometimes, share.

While nursing my post-Laneway depression, I started listening to The Drums a lot and came face to face with the animosity that surrounds what I understand to be The Drums’ first single off of Portamento. “Money” is, in my opinion, an infectious, dangerously catchy song. I like singing it a lot, much to the annoyance of some of the people I live with.

Having been met generally with disdain and mad faces, I decided to sing the lyric: I want to buy you something / But I don’t have any money to every immediate family member within reach (i.e. my dad, my mom, my siblings) and record their responses.

Luis, brother, 26: I only like that song up until it hits the chorus (aka, the part I just sang) and then I don’t like it anymore.
Isabel, sister, 21: I hate that song! You keep singing that to me! (I have apparently subjected her multiple times to the song, even pre-Laneway.)
Mona, mom, undisclosed: That’s a real song? That’s what you went to Singapore for?
Soler, dad, undisclosed: What [are you going to buy me]?

Tough crowd! As for me, I love it a lot. I don’t get why people hate it so much. It is, in my opinion, one of the catchiest songs I’ve ever heard in recent years, and it’s actually really good musically. Is it the sudden spike up of the falsetto? The repetition of the cutesy sentiment? Sarie said it got a lot of airplay, but I don’t listen to the radio so I have no idea whether or not it got overplayed.

And even if it did, no complaints over here.

The Traveling Music Bug bit me in 2010, when my brother and I decided to go to Singapore for the Vampire Weekend concert. We went again in 2011 for The National. It’s not the first time we’ve flown to satiate the needs of our inner fans. Once, my dad flew our whole family over to Singapore because he wanted to meet Julian Schnabel. I’m tempted to say that this need to flock towards an idol runs in the family, but I think it has more to do with piso-fares and other people’s hospitality than bloodlines.

Anyway, Laneway 2012 was, if anything, such an experience. It’s my first full-on festival, having opted out of full participation in local music festivals like Muziklaban, Fete de la Musique, Fete de la WSK, Summer Slam and so on. The closest I’ve probably been to going to a music festival were high school fairs—which is such a stupid comparison, I know.

I loved it so much, though. The journey going to–a pilgrimage!—the high highs, low lows, the heat, the drizzling, the decided sweatiness of the people who shared this experience with me, the tiny moments and the secrets. All of it was memorable and still quite stark in my brain.

Anyway, as much as I would like to offer a full recounting of the events that transpired a week ago (exactly), I can’t do that, as we arrived late and missed Cults. From the back of the very long entrance line that snaked around Fort Canning, we heard the rumble of instruments and the roar of the crowd, and from that distance, I’d like to think that I liked what I heard. I’m sad I missed them, but all I honestly could think about was:

“Will we make it in time for Yuck?”

(We did.)

On Yuck: The band that I really, really wanted to see. We found a pretty good spot that was near enough for me to both a) appreciate the music, and b) feel like a super fan, which is validated by the nearness of the person (me) to the object of admiration (Yuck). It was good. I loved the lilt of Daniel Blumberg’s voice, his denim-on-denim cropped ensemble, the way he tilts his head when he sings. By the way, someone looked into the philosophy behind “The Wall.” Anyway, it was a great set, and I’m glad we made it on time because I would have been really bummed out for the rest of the day.

When “Shook Down” came on, we all went wild. And then Bijan asked them to play “Shook Down” again, which of course they did not do.

Major stars-in-eyes moment for Mariko Doi. I only wish I could have played the bass as coolly as she does.

We skipped Chairlift and took a water break, cutting through the National Museum of Singapore, and settled in a Wendy’s near Bencoolen St. No way were we going to pay $4 for a bottle of water we were just going to pee out in a Porta-Potty.

Ran into the Cosons, Leloy, and Delfina. And made it back in time for a good part of the set of Austra. I honestly do not care that much for them, but it was really fun to watch people dancing to them. They sounded pretty good from a muffled distance, though.

On Girls: Aside from a flower-infested stage, Girls’ Christopher Owens opened with a lone, heartfelt cover of the late Whitney Houston’s “I Will Always Love You,” in memory of her passing. They launched into a frenetic performance of their songs, all of which the audience danced to. Then came the shower of flowers, and “Yuck by Girls,” in which Christopher Owens sang “The Wall” as a voice-caricature of Daniel B.

On The Drums: Faaavorite set, as is evidenced by these photographs. I love them; I haven’t been listening much to any other music, post-Laneway. I can’t get tired of their songs (but I know I will have to stop soon or else I will). The moment Jonny Pierce came out singing “What You Were,” I lost it. I like them fine, but I don’t know that many of their songs. I’m glad we were watching so close to them. The energy was infectious.

I was being depressive and looking at The Drums’ videos on YouTube and someone said “Morrissey and Ian Curtis had a baby” and that is by far the most accurate description of Jonny P. I’ve ever read. Of course, we were also super smitten by Connor Hanwick. There’s just something about him.

Rested a little bit during Ana Calvi. We watched from a distance, and while she was really, really good, I don’t know if I’ve been converted into a fan. We secured our spot near the front of Stage 2, in preparation for Feist, who was going to come on four or five acts later. We bumped into Karen and Zaxx again! Serindipitous? Coincidence? Magnetism?

The day began to end as Twin Shadow came on.

On Twin Shadow: So, I was going to do an “On the Road to Laneway” type of thing, where I frantically listened to every act set to play the festival, but I never got around to doing that. I’ll say this, though—Twin Shadow’s voice is like caramel. It is so smooth and full and lovely. We stood behind a bunch of (super tall!) super fans, and it was contagious, their excitement for this incredibly talented bunch of people. It was super cool to be (somewhat) a part of.

On Laura Marling: The sea of people thickened like soup so we stayed put in our Stage Two positions as Laura Marling played. I sat down most of the time, since I don’t really know much of her songs. I did stand up and sing along to “Ghosts,” though which is my favorite song. The day after, when I was in our car going home, I was replaying this song in my head and can’t seem to get rid of all these feelings. I very nearly cried.

On The Pains of Being Pure at Heart: There were a lot of technical difficulties during their set. It was such a joy to watch. The lights were so good, and Kip played with so much feeling, and Peggy Wang was being Peggy Wang (Connor was playing with them! Hee!), and the energy was just so great. This is where I realized that we were all just feeding energy off of each other, because if I stopped and thought about anything else other than their music and how full it makes me feel, I would probably just die. I was so thirsty and my feet felt like they were on fire.

But—and I am not kidding—the music seemed to take all of that away. Whenever someone launches into a song that’s dear to my heart, the pain is erased, and I sing with everything that I have, and it’s just so marvelous and exciting. It makes every feeling feel even more incandescent.

Additionally, I seem to be the only person I know who actually likes their name.

On Toro y Moi: No photos of Toro y Moi because we were situated in an unfortunate spot (and I didn’t bother because I knew I would be seeing him in, like, 2 days back in Manila). What to say about this set? What I realized foremost is that I love Causers of This Toro, and I only like Underneath the Pine Toro, which is where he was at. Of course, I lost it completely, when he played “Talamak” and “Low Shoulder,” but I felt a huge disconnect from a lot of his dancier songs. I still love him, though.

On Feist: Agh, this lady is amazing. Most of her Laneway setlist is from Metals, which I quite enjoyed. Like what I said in a review of it that I wrote, Feist seems to ignore the pop-oriented songs that led to her super-fame, and stuck to her sound at the moment in that particular time in her life. Complete props to her. It was still grossly enthralling to watch her perform. She was just really something else.

I need to rewatch Look at What the Light Did Now, because she is just an amazing lady and I need to take tips so I can be more like her. Creatively, and everything-else-ly.

We left the crowd because we were dead tired (standing on an inclined hill for five hours!) and didn’t have to be super close to The Horrors or M83.

Sarie, napping on Doc Martens ponchos we got for free. I woke her up because we saw Peggy Wang (!) standing off to the side with Connor. We took photos but Sarie has them, and also I probably won’t post because I was a sunburnt sweaty mess.

On The Horrors: Meh. Didn’t care for them very much. I don’t know if it’s just their style, but it felt dispassionate and uninspired. Perhaps that’s also due to the fact that I hadn’t been standing and participative during this set, perhaps not. What I do remember from this time was that Sarie and I saw an Erlend Øye doppelgänger, at whom she shouted “Hi Erlend!” He waved back and that is how we knew that he was not a doppelgänger, but instead Pedestrian Erlend Øye.

That paragraph was not about The Horrors.

On M83: AGH. Best people to close a show with. There’s something about their performance that I think brought together the people who lasted until the night. If you’re a fan of M83, you would know how thick and layered and just complex their music is, and what amazes me so much is that they were able to replicate these sounds live. Maybe it’s the combination of the lights, and the people who’re still together and not sick of each other after twelve hours together, and being able to spend this special thing with people that I loved that made it feel so extraordinary.

This is the National Museum of Singapore at night. We cut through a garden to get to Kopi Tiam, which was open 24 hours. We ate duck at 2 a.m. and talked about our favorite parts of the day over dinner. I don’t know, but if I were to call some things magical, I think Laneway would undoubtedly be one of those things.

After trekking up (up!) the mountain side to stay at the lodge near the center of the town, we had to trek further up to a Akakoy Nature Park for a cultural experience. Aside from a native house-building demonstration (which was quite fascinating as they used hardwood and zero nuts, bolts or nails), there was also a bit of dancing and singing.

It was amazing to see because we were freezing and they were in traditional wear and dancing like it was no big deal. I’ve always been bad at social studies, but I could appreciate it up close.

The next morning, we boarded the car and began our journey home. It was a four-hour ride to Banaue, where we were hoping to catch our bus. The road was extremely bumpy and at times scary, because you can see just how far you can fall if it in case tips over to the side.

But, the view makes up for it.

Then we touched Banaue, which is arguably the most famous part of Ifugao.

It was pretty wonderful.

Part III of my trip to Mayoyao, Ifugao! I’m itching to post about Laneway, but at the same time, I’m sort of prolonging this feeling. I have a bunch of backlog, though, that I’ve promised people, so I’m slowly getting rid of that. All these photos were taken by Gracie Vergara, for whom I feel camera envy. Seriously, I’m a Nikon user (at least, by way of SLRs) and I considered ditching my Nikon obnoxiousness and maybe a kidney for her camera, a Canon 5D Mark II. I’ve since come to my senses, mostly because I am astonishingly poor right now.

Anyway. Here are some photos of the trek from our first day:

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Getting from one place to another was not a piece of cake! If it were a piece of cake, I don’t know if I could eat it. Clearly, I was made for this.

We made it! This is where we had our homestay. I’m munching on biscuits because I’m both a weakling and a notorious snacker.

All in a line! The worst part is probably running into a person who is going in the other direction. A kid overtook me because I was so slow and my foot sank into the paddy. :(

It’s crazy to imagine that this is the world that people mostly saw, and not cities, highways, and skyscrapers.

Look at Sarie, appreciating the view! Potentially dangerous to fall asleep on the job, but I guess she was tired.

Gracie went ahead of us. We had to travel in a straight line, with a deep ditch to one side and a muddy paddy on the other. It’s a little disorienting, when it feels like you’re walking on clouds.

We slept on rice sacks on the floor. I don’t know if I’ve mentioned that before, but it was extremely uncomfortable. It was worth it, though, because we woke up to this:

After breakfast, we went down to a neighboring paddy to take a few stalks so we can transplant them in a different, empty paddy. If I remember correctly, this results into a greater yield of rice.

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Planting! You had to be careful not to fence anybody in an inescapable corner, which nearly happened to me because of my far corner.

We took turns planting rice. Even the crew took breaks so they could also experience it. It was harder than I thought.

I’m putting this here because it’s the funniest action shot in all of existence. I’m still laughing by myself because I can’t take it. I really can’t.

It was actually not so hard to just do it, regardless of the “grids,” but it was so tiring to be bending over and putting the stalks into the mud. The muddiness helped, though. I mean, I guess I know why pigs like it in muddy places. It’s very, very cool. Here is a shot of myself planting:

After planting, traditionally, there is a ritual for blessing, in which a chicken is killed and eaten. This was done inside their house.

Karina and Tatang. :)

After they burn the feathers off, they cooked the chicken and we gathered together to partake in the meal. This is how we ate during the homestay:

This soup tasted so good, more so because we were in a chilly place.

BEST. RICE. EVER.

Gracie took a photo of me taking a photo of her on the bridge that connects the two parts of the house.

Carina and Karina on the steps (favorite!) to their house, with their skittish dog hiding under the floor.

Gracie and our wonderful hosts. :)

Fare thee well, lovely house by the mountains. I will miss you.

For the next and last post, I will post photos of a cultural show that happened later that night as well as the way back home, which was bumpy but qiute beautiful.

Contact Josh Nalliw at josh21020@gmail.com or +639065308242 for inquiries.

I will keep referring to my Singapore trip as a Long Weekend, even though it isn’t, technically. Nonetheless, it was fun. When we landed on a Thursday afternoon, we decided to swing by Orchard Road then just to get it over with. I think we had Orchard Road overload from our last trip. Because of this brilliant decision, we had time (and energy!) to explore the rest of the places we haven’t been to. But that’s another story.

Here’s a slideshow of Instagram photos. I was going to do a collage, but I like big photographs! The following are from Laneway, the house we stayed in, and weird ice cream.

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Part II of this post: Our winner for the Field Notes Giveaway, Via, didn’t reply to my email for the last few days, so I picked a new one, alliekabok on Tumblr. I forgot to take an iShowU video of my randomization, and I obviously can’t re-enact it, so here are screencaps. Anyway, I just sent her an email and am expecting a response within the next 24 hours. Allie’s been a loyal reader of Nothing Spaces and has been a keen commenter.

Thank you again to Avalon.ph for the goods (haha) and for all y’all who joined. It’s been fun!

In other news, I’m so dreadfully sick of this layout. Aren’t you? I hope I find the time to change it soon.

After 384 entries for the Field Notes Giveaway, a random generator picked a lucky winner: Via! Congratulations, I’ll be sending an email to you shortly.

In the event that Via doesn’t respond within 24 hours, I will re-draw again from the existing list of entries. Thanks for joining, everybody! It’s been fun. Thanks to Avalon.ph for the Field Notes pack and calendar.

PROOF OF RANDOMNESS

I think there’s this inexplicable void and angst attached to going to art school elsewhere, only because my own BFA experience left a lot to be desired. But that’s another story.

My only resolve really is to get better and to learn how to save. Honestly, I think I’m getting better at saving, so that’s good. I’m so far behind my financial goal, but I think panicking will make it worse, so I’m trying not to panic about money. That’s the worst thing to do. And, of course, blowing your cash the minute you get it. I remember finding out when I was younger that it is not a norm for kids my age to have their own savings accounts. (I thank my parents for planning for our financial future and habits, and for thinking ahead.)

Anyway, I’m just going to power through, I suppose. And build my body of work. Here’s my “collection” of work, so far:
 

http://carina-santos.com/

Not very impressive at the moment, but I think I’ll get there. I just have to spend time really evaluating my work. It’s so hard, because it’s something that’s close to my heart (and ego), but I know that unearthing the flaws and weak points in my work will eventually lead to a stronger style and better expression.

Anyway, just some weird life and future thoughts on a Saturday morning. The Field Notes giveaway will end tomorrow, by the way. Better get your last minute entries in!

I have successfully accomplished 4 out of 10 January Goals, which seems pretty pitiful, I guess.

Here are my February goals, with some of January’s goals carried over:

• Read 7 books
• Exercise 3 times a week
• Save 50% of paycheck
• Revive Maybe Very Happy
• Organization
        — Workspace
        — Room (Spring Cleaning)
• Start working on an exhibit for June
• Do branding for shop
• Work on online portfolio (Funnily enough, I did this in January)
        — Design business cards. Print them.
• Get better at film photography
        — Get the Nikon FM-2 fixed

I like doing monthly goals because I get to fine-tune my “progress” during the year. I know it’s kind of a dorky thing to do, but I like having a way to steer me towards the person I want to be. Or at least, some kind of accountability for my own goals.

Sometimes I don’t use up all the film I have in my camera, so when I have them processed, they’re a jumble of adventures and mishaps. It’s fun looking through them, especially when enough time has passed between the events. I took a Sproket snapshot of The National’s Singapore show, but it must have been too dark (even with the flash), that I won’t even post the outcome. I wish I took more shots. Oh well, lesson learned.

Manila, Philippines: December 2011

I’ve come to realize that a) I don’t really like Lomography film (except for the X-Pro Chrome and Tungsten variants), b) I’m not very good at film photography, and c) I need to learn how to read light.

Manila, Philippines x Mayoyao, Ifugao, Philippines: December 2011 x January 2012

It’s hard to make film photographs not come off as snapshotty. I guess that’s my main goal, after everything. It’s funny, but usually, when I’m not good at something, I drop it like a hot potato. It’s not a trait that I’m particularly proud of, but there you go. Funnily enough, this particular failure has made me very persistent. I won’t quit until I get good enough at it, or if I run out of money, spending it on seemingly frivolous things like film (read: things that are expensive that I don’t even earn from).

Stick; Manila, Philippines: December 2011

Hong Kong Disneyland: October 2011

October 2011
Hong Kong

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December 2011
The Grim Repat x Ang Bandang Shirley:

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Mayoyao, Ifugao
January 2012