Stone Temple Pilots (album review)

Album: Stone Temple Pilots
Artist: Stone Temple Pilots
Genres: Alternative rock, hard rock and country

I'm a die-hard fan of the great rock band Stone Temple Pilots. As a die-hard fan, I wanted to buy a copy of their newest album so badly! In 2010, the band released the said album worldwide and it successfully sold millions of copy. I couldn't buy myself a copy then because every record store I went to ran out of copies! This year, however, I bought one on the day of their concert here in the Philippines, from a cd stand near the Big Dome - the venue of the concert. It's a kick-ass album!

Stone Temple Pilots' self-titled album is more than amazing! The songs are poppier, catchier and easier to listen than the ones from their previous albums. Frontman Scott Weiland's singing prowess is awesome as always. And the band's new sound is all feel good rock and country - which is perfect for summertime. I've never listened to an album as good as this before!

Tracks that I love: Between the Lines, Dare If You Dare, Cinnamon and Fast As I can.

If you're tired of angry or emo rock and just want to have a good time and/or if you're a die-hard fan like me, you'll definitely dig this!

More photos from the Stone Temple Pilots concert! (I'm not yet done uploading 'em all)

Stone Temple Pilots… Live! : My ultimate rock concert experience

When I learned 5 days ago from splintr.com’s e-mail message that one of the most successful grunge and alternative rock bands of the 90s, Stone Temple Pilots (STP) will be having a concert in Araneta Coliseum, I got extremely thrilled. I thought Wow! Is this really happening? My ultimate favorite American rock band will finally come to play live in Manila? Being able to watch them will be one of the coolest things that will happen in my life! Indeed, it was one of such things. I couldn’t believe it really happened. It was a dream that became real.

Last night, I went to the concert with my cousin who also likes STP. We were at the Patron section.

Sinosikat?, a Filipino band that plays soul, funk and rock opened the show for STP. They played smooth music for the crowd. Vocalist Kat Agarrado entertained us with her seductively strong voice and beautifully sensual dance moves. She’s one hell of a performer. Unlike other famous rock vocalists in the country, she sounded good live. No wonder STP chose them to be the front act. Sinosikat? played Turning My Safety Off, So Blue, Telepono, Mr. Musikero and Praning.


Sinosikat?, from afar.


Kat looks sexually attractive on the screen.

After a long intermission, the band that we’d been waiting for, STP appeared on the stage. We clamored crazily for them. Scott Weiland’s (the vocalist) voice was amazingly great. His dance moves were awkward but enjoyable to watch. The band rocked the stage as expected. We sang along with them, headbanged and danced wildly. STP played Crackerman, Wicked Garden, Vasoline, Heaven and Hot Rods,Between the Lines, Hickory Dichotomy, Still Remains , Big empty, Dancing Days, Silvergun Superman, Plush, Intersate Love song, Huckleberry Crumble, Down, Sex Type Thing, Dead and Bloated and Trippin’ in a Hole in a Paper Heart.


Scott Weiland (left) and guitarist Dean DeLeo (right)

It’s the best rock concert I’ve ever been to!

Gracey is busy.

Lately, I've been busy doing things that have been keeping me from updating my blog. This is the list of such things.

• Work.
I work as an encoder in Pasay RTC Hall of Justice. As an encoder I have to type the court decisions of a certain judge, grades of his law students, test and exam questions for his class... anything that should be on long bond paper. It's one of the easiest jobs in the world and the only challenging part of it is that I should wake up sooo early in the morning to go to the office.

• Losing weight.
It's been my New Year's resolution to lose weight and be fitter. To do this I decided to workout 4 to 5 times a week, eat low fat foods and lots of veggies, veggies, and veggies! My reasons for losing weight? To be fitter and thinner, to wear the clothes that I like and to appear foxy to my crush! Hehe. :)

• Honing my sketching skills.
Seeing the amazing sketches of my artistic Facebook friends inspired and compelled me to make my own sketches again. I want my sketches to look cooler so I keep on practicing sketching. By the time I finished 5 sketches I'd post them on Facebook, just like my friends did.

• Reading Neil Gaiman's books.
I love Neil Gaiman's books that I can't stop reading them. He's a great writer. I want to be like him someday that's why I keep on reading his books.

• Watching Naruto.
My brother once forced me to watch this anime. At first, I didn't want to watch the said anime because Naruto (the protagonist) looks stupid. But then, my brother told me it's a really great anime and that if I'm a real fan of ninjas I should start watching it. So I started watching Naruto and I was surprised to know it's very good. It has everything I want in an anime: great story, characters and theme songs.

• Supporting PIA (Philippine Islands Assassin).
I always watch this dance group when I have time, write my praises or compliments for them on their official Facebook page, "advertise" them by writing on my Facebook status the schedule of their performances on ASAP, Showtime and any other TV shows. I'm so obsessed with PIA and I love them so much because: 1. They're an awesome dance group. 2. They're so nice and friendly to fans like me.

I realized it's true that a day is not enough to do all the things that I want and need to do. I'm planning to do more important activities like reviewing for the civil service exam, reading and understanding a math book (Ugh! I hate math!) and finding a more challenging job but I don't have time to do those things. And I don't want to do them yet.

The Cartoon Trend on Facebook

"Change your Facebook profile picture to a cartoon from your childhood and
invite your friends to do the same. Until Monday (Dec.6) there should
be no human faces on Facebook, but an invasion of memories. This is for
violence against children." This was the famous Facebook status last week. As a big fan of cartoons, I was so thrilled to change my profile pic to my favorite cartoon character after reading this Facebook status. I have so many favorite cartoon characters that I decided to use one or two per day, for the week. Here are the ones I used:

On Wednesday- Hiei of Yuyu Hakusho also known as Vincent of Ghost Fighter here in the Philippines. He’s my ultimate anime crush. I just love everything about him: his powers (Black Dragon Spirit is my favorite among his other powers.), his ninja-like speed, his being “emo” (he has the right to be one since life has been so cruel to him), his spiky black hair with white highlights and his cuteness. If you’re a fan of Yuyu Hakusho you know that this half-human half- demon is so much more popular than the protagonist – Yusuke/Eugene. Why? Because he’s amazing.



Thursday- Scorpion of Mortal Kombat. His costume reminds me of Philippine Islands Assassin’s on Showtime’s grand finals! You know how crazy I am about that dance group!



Friday- Tails of Sonic the Hedgehog. He's the cutest thing on that cartoon I want to bite him!



Saturday (4:15 am)- I.R. Baboon of I am Weasel. He’s my favorite character on that cartoon! He’s so funny!



5:01 pm- Karasu. He’s my favorite villain on Yuyu Hakusho. He’s so handsome! I love his long raven hair. Rawr.




Sunday (8:59 am)- 2 Stupid Dogs. They’re the funniest and cutest dogs I’ve ever seen!



8:18 pm- Sakyou/Mr. Valdez. Again, from Yuyu Hakusho. That anime has a lot of great and memorable characters, doesn't it? I like him because:
1.he saves Shizuru (the sister of Kazuma, Yusuke’s best friend) from the demons in the arena of the Dark Tournament (the first deadly tournament Yusuke and his friends joined in) even though he shouldn't because he's a villain and he should be bad all the time! Wahaha! When I was a kid I dreamt of him having a romantic relationship with Shizuru. Aww, ain’t that sweet?
2. he looks like Karasu.
3. he’s utterly underrated. Apparently, no one on Facebook used his picture.



Monday, finally - L of Deathnote. Obviously he’s not a cartoon character from my childhood since Deathnote was aired on TV in 2006. But I used his picture because he’s so irresistible! I love his physical appearance and mind. He’s definitely the cutest and most brilliant detective in anime world!



Well, that’s about it. I hope after this cartoon trend on Facebook there would no longer be any form of child abuse (physical abuse at home, child labor, child trafficking, etc.). It has been such a fun and meaningful trend. <3

My first Starbucks planner

Yay! Finally, after collecting 17 stickers I now have my first Starbucks planner! Woohoo! I'm so happy! :)

Tori Amos’ music on a wonderful day

Imagine reading a book while you’re sitting in a coffee shop and suddenly - you hear an amazingly beautiful song. If a simply beautiful thing like this happens to you, you’re having one of the wonderful days of your life. Now imagine that the book you’re reading is your favorite book, the coffee shop is Starbucks and the song is Tori Amos’ rendition of Star of Wonder. You’ll feel that you’re in heaven for a moment. This scene actually happened to me on a Sunday afternoon and I really felt that I was in heaven at that moment. Tori Amos' angelic voice makes me feel that way when I hear it. I was actually reading a horror book (Stephen King's Nightmares & Dreamscapes) on that Sunday afternoon and it frightened me a little. But her voice soothed me and took away my fright when I heard the said song. Her voice soothed me like a mother would soothe her child who got scared by a bad dream. That's how powerful her voice is. It is the kind of voice that brings heavenly comfort.

Here’s Tori Amos’ mesmerizing rendition of the famous Christmas song.



Lovely, isn’t it? It makes you feel that Christmas is already in the air. :)

This song has such beautiful, beautiful lyrics!

We three kings are coming again
Bearing gifts from the East
From the East

Some say a star will rise again
In the hearts of humankind
Some say we have been in exile
What we need is solar fire

Star of wonder, star of night
Star of royal beauty
Westward leading, still proceeding
A star
A star of wonder

We bring gold and myrrh for him
From the East, frankincense
From the East

Some say a star will rise again
In the hearts of humankind
Some say we have been in exile
What we need is solar fire

Star of wonder, star of night
Star of royal beauty
Westward leading, still proceeding
A star

Star of wonder, star of night
Star of royal beauty
Westward leading, still proceeding
A star
A star of wonder
Of wonder