weekend wrap-up - "thank you and you're welcome"

ok, i'm still waking up. it was so dang hot last night! made it difficult to sleep. had to apologize to my sweetie in the morning for being a brat.

so i thought i'd go into allll this great detail and make my weekend sound realll interesting... but i'll just cut straight to the point - it was a great weekend. i coulda and shoulda took photos to post up, but hey, life is what's happening when you're too dang busy, or into it, to think about documenting it.

that's why i love my writer homies, my filmmaker homies, my documentarian homies... how the hell do y'all do that so well??

landed in vegas and was swooped up by the homies pab and 'nilo, and treated to some cupcakes and red mango frozen dessert. much to their dismay, i prefer red mango over pinkberry. then we met up with the rest of their homies, they checked into their party hotel of choice, the hard rock. nice poolside view i'm sure they enjoyed the rest of the weekend =)

then over to my party hotel of choice, the red rock. super sexy. i'm definitely staying there again! let's just say, i applaud the architects and interior desginers of the hotel, particularly the rooms, for making it ergonomically correct for ... debaucherous fun and games!

the homies made their way into the show... i needed to catch my breath, eat something, and settle into the evening. so i did all that, and it ended up being perfect timing, because my partner-in-crime for the weekend arrived, and we strolled into the show.

i didn't catch lupe and nerd. it's ok, i've seen them twice before, and if i didn't relax and settle in i would have been one bitchy feline for the rest of the night. i was even nice when a drunk white girl fell on my dude, "ohmygosh you are sooo lucky he's tall and handsome and strong... " insisting she didn't need her boyfriend's help who was somewhere over there to get around. lol. aaaanyways...

kanye was amazing and entertaining. he was like a hip hop lukeskywalker/outer space loner trying to make sense of the world as someone who is supposed to save something. (ok someone was trying to tell me what the whole premise/theme of the show was... but i don't remember. i'll look it up later and add it in when i have time. or if you know, please post a comment. thank you (and you're welcome)

the stage set up was the inside of the control station of a spaceship, and it talked back to him, kinda like how Jem (of Jem and the Holograms) had Synergy. there were these large video panels that had pretty dope graphics, the landscapes and the skyscapes were my favorite.

oh and yeah - he's the only one on stage. no DJ, no band, no backup singers, no hype man. just kanye. which, i do applaud him for - he carried it on HIS OWN. no one to foil and make him look sexier or shinier. but at least a DJ woulda been nice to see. the sound was amazing. oh and the stage had an angle/slant to it, so i could see him from where i was standing! see, a short person like me usually just accepts that, at a SRO show, i will only hear the music and see the stage via the video. good lookin out for the (literal) shorties!

he started with "good morning," which i love. i do play that in the morning because well, it captures morning time energy very well. lol it's easy to enjoy his show because his songs are so catchy and you sing and dance along and it's just a good time.

i don't remember the order of the songs. was in the moment. and, pleasantly inebriated. totally present in the moment, i didnt bother remembering such details so diligently. i remember, in no particular order... jesus walks, all falls down, through the fire, can't tell me nothing, good life! flashing lights, stronger ... and more. ended with touch the sky =)

but dang i wish i brought my camera! they didnt even frisk me! oh well. it let me enjoy just being there, and not think about what i should blog about.

i wonder if the kanye troopers scour the net to remove photos of the show, because i didn't find any. but then again, maybe i'm not looking hard enough. oh well.

we just sang along and drank along happily. it was a great time.

friday stumbled into saturday, and it was just pleasant. i wish the r&r could have lasted a little longer, but it was just right.

i got home, and switched right to community member mode. SIPA anniversary banquet, which always has it's fun points.

ok this is already long. i'll continue it later....

the LVD in LV!

(sorry for the failed attempt at a witty title. this time we'll settle for corny.)



I'll be heading to vegas to check out kanye west at the red rock in vegas! woo hoo! Fortunately some rooms opened up so need to deal with traffic and the brouhaha of the Strip. aahh it was meant to be... lol

this is where you'll find me

I am a big fan of Kanye's. A few of my hip hop homies lightweight hate on him because he's "obnoxious" and that turns them off. But you know what... he's one talented dude. And I can't wait to watch him put on a show.

Also looking forward to NERD - the group led by by husband and cousin (i'm pulling the "all filipinos are related" card here).

Big thanks to my homie Pab for hookin' it up!!! See ya and the homies soon man.

ttyl. have a good weekend!

happy earth day!

as a marketer it's interesting to see how "going green" is a recurring "trend." i mean, it's a good trend to have i guess, since it gets people to think twice about being wasteful. even though we still drink out of water bottles and deplete our fossil fuel supply... oh the contradictions we live...but hey, adding some cuteness to a little earthly responsibility certainly doesn't seem like a bad thing...

my little contribution?

i got one as a present for my birthday. i have shopping bags from whole foods and trader joe's, but i always forget them, even though i put them next to the door. but this cute lil thing rolls up and fits in my purse! visit their site to get yours! they have some pretty cute designs.

another reason to love jigga ...

... he chose a dope tour DJ. 5th platooner neil armstrong.

click on the pic to read the LA Times article

ok so i'm hella late in finding this out... thank you to djswerve for informing me! lol

another reminder that i need to keep up better with music and community goings-on (especially since i manage this one foo), beyond dale and miz malubay. even though dale is growing on me.

so this lil news brightened my day. i love it when pin@ys are doing their thing! especially in hip hop, in entertainment, because i swim in those sharky waters and it is not a nice always wade in the pool.

so anyways, yay neil!

(switching ipod to WarmFuzzy mixtape)

Heart of the City.

So last night i was at the hollywood bowl for the maryjblige/jay-z show. And what a show it was!

The homies convened by my office around 630ish so we could just cab it up to the Bowl. The Hollywood Bowl is probably my favorite outdoor concert venue. Nestled in the Hollywood Hills, its natural ampitheatre shape along with its trademark layered bandshell makes for great sound under the stars. Something about it is so pretty and romantic (watch 80s classic Some Kind of Wonderful) I've been fortunate to experience some amazing performances here, from greats such as Miles Davis, Wynton Marsalis, Cassandra Wilson ... saw Lauryn Hill here as well, while she was at the beginning of her transitionary phase... is was o-k... but anyways, I digress.

So the Bowl is home to the LA Philharmonic, the Playboy Jazz Festival (my parents used to go when box seats were affordable), some KCRW joints... (read: bougie) It's rare that hip-hop comes to this venue (trying to remember the last one). So when the announcement was made that MJB and Hov were touring (!) and coming to this venue (!!) it was an automatic must-see.

So the homies (my roll-dogs from UCLA Guthrie house days) and I got together some food, drink, and cabbed it up as far as we could go, jumped out, trekked it up that dang hill - thank god i wore sneakers - and got our butts in our seats just as the house lights came down. I guess i could say they were just waiting for me to arrive ... LOL. Anyways, house lights came down, stage lights and the music came up, to reveal the full band, an orchestra, and an immense gfx screen. At the top of the set stood Jay and Mary - tux'ed out, sleek, dapper. Ana turned to me and said, "hip hop has grown up."

Indeed. The crowd went wild, and they opened with "Can't Knock the Hustle," of course. Mary took over from there, jumping into her classics, like Real Love, Sweet Thing...

ok. I'm not going to go into the whole show in detail, because well, you just had to be there really... and I was pretty tipsy so I don't think I remember everything in chronological order... it was a great show. Jay was a-mazing. All the hits... all the ones about his name... teased the crowd with a few Beyonce beats (oh gawd)...

now the big banger, literally, was that the show ended in fireworks. now, they usually have fireworks on July 4th sync'd with the Philharmonic. I coudl picture Jay in a meeting with the producers going, fuck it we're at the Bowl. Let's do as the symphony does. Super flashy Hollywood. But hey, it was a SHOW. indeed. i had a great time.

attempted to cab it back to our cars, but we ended up just walking (off the liqs). all good. i think it was faster than those waiting in stack parking.

Los Angeles - with every event there is going to be a comment about traffic and driving. but where else could you watch a show like that, under the stars on an april night with crisp breezes, and your homies? =)

sunday, lovely sunday... wish you were here

Sometimes it's a blessing when things don't go exactly as planned. On Sunday morning i ended up in Manhattan Beach with my homegirls, and met new homegirls! Oh my gosh it was lovely. My roomie gave me 10 minutes to put on a suit, throw stuff in a bag, and be on our way. We were laid out on the scorching SoCali sand by 10:30. The water was hella cold, but that's ok. Given the season it shouldn't have even been that hot (frikkin global warming), so it's ok that that water temp didn't catch up.

Hungry by 1pm, so we ate at Local Yolk, home of some of the best banana muffins i've ever tasted (can i get a muffin in that stick of butter?) and then just perused the boutiques in the area.

And just as we were wrapping it up, i get a text from my old roomies... BBQ at their pad! perfect timing. Made a quick stop for some ice cream and sugar cones, headed east to Dena and had a lovely time talking shit and making more new friends.

what more i ask for... a beautiful day to relax, with beautiful energy surrounding me.

i've made a conscious effort not to blog about work, because y'all out there have your own to deal with, why would you want to hear about my biz. and why would i want to let you in on propietary info anyways? =) plus it's nice to remember these moments and reread them, when it does get hectic and i gotta breathe....

Saturday was lovely as well! Woke up to sweet loveliness, got my am workout on, and then met up with my komadre and my fellow ninang for dinner and a girls' night out. it was fun just to be out with the ladies =). repeat is a must!

Have a good rest of the week!

Friday Four-Eleven

It's a gorgeous day in LA. Mid-to-high 80's today. Not a cloud in the sky...

And today's date is special to me - it signifies one of my key physical characteristics (my height!), it's my business name.

I'm proclaiming it a holiday! even though... i'm at the office...!!!

But it's ok, actually. Yesterday after work i hung out with the boss, ex-coworkers, and later in the evening, my mentor and folks i've met through the "industry, " but most importantly, they are all wonderful friends. i woke up thinking this morning, how cool is it that these good folks have come into my life. In this business of Hollywood, which can get stressful and sharky and cutthroat, they certaintly make it more pleasant.

ok, pause on the gloating, back to work! =)

any ideas on how i should signify this holiday for future 4/11's?

on a sunday afternoon...

This past Sunday my brother and i had a picnic at our childhood neighborhood park to celebrate our birthdays. It was so lovely. It was a little cool, but no rain! yay! Our (not so) baby brother got there at 7am to save the spot. Good look on that!

A whole bunch of friends and fam came through. At first I had second thoughts about a picnic, cuz why would folks do that for my old ass! But when my brothers brought it up how could I resist. Aunties, uncles, cousins, homies, and the kids all made it such a lovely time.

I don't have any pictures because I didn't charge the battery beforehand. Doh! So I'll grab photos from my dad and my bro's lady. In the meantime, check out my girl Michelle's recap of the food!

(click here)

and click here for her post about the cupcakes she made for me. Disclaimer before you read: I have never denied being a little diva sometimes. i am so thankful to my friends, who understand this idiosyncracy of mine and still love me. i love you too.

ok so monday is over. thank GOD.

the crescent moon is beautiful though, did you see it?

sites i like.

note to self: add "sites i like" to the right navi of the blog.

surfing around i found this one... cool pinay! hope she doesn't mind i'm posting this up. i haven't read through all but from the lovely quote and photos, i like.

http://tikayiyay.wordpress.com/

i love my people. this time i mean it sincerely. actually, i always do mean it sincerely. even when some of y'all frustrate the f*ck out of me, i still love you. because i know it's not alllll our fault, the way we are sometimes. our parents, our kababayan, our oppressors, our lovers... i'm not letting them off the hook. but it's still love, unconditional.

"crazy"

so like three of my friends today, when asked, "how's it going?" answered:

"crazy."

so of course i check the astrology forecasts for the day... nothing too bad, but it did say:

Meditate for peace of mind and dig a little deeper into your metaphysical studies. If primary partnerships seem a bit off-kilter, you may be tuning into a Mercury-Juno square from Pisces to Sagittarius (i have no idea what that means either). Pushing your own agenda too far and too fast can boomerang against you. Compassion and sensitivity are warranted when sharing with dear ones. Keep a notebook by your bed to record nocturnal wanderings in the astral realm.

as i googled "lori from the real world" after looking at my kompadre's blog, i find this post:

Crazy Carrie (as in, Bradshaw)

and she makes some good points. i'd go more into my thoughts but i gotta go right now. maybe later. what do you think?