“It was, of course, a miserable childhood: the happy childhood is hardly worth your while”
-Frank McCourt (on “Angela’s Ashes“)
1930 - 2009
I know I’m delayed by a few years, but I am really happy to say that my order of David Browne’s “Dream Brother: The Lives and Music of Jeff & Tim Buckley” has finally arrived.
WOW!!!! Another title to be added to my “currently reading” list. 
Reviews were good and this is the favorite biography amongst the fans. Definitely something I’m excited to read.
All because I’ve just finished researching about a few depressing subjects.
WARNING! If you wish to continue on with your bright and chirpy day, I suggest that you go find another post to read. I for one, will go find something cheerful to do…
In 1993, 3 teenaged boys were convicted of raping, torturing and murdering 3 younger kids, sending them all to jail. In the recent years, however, new evidences and retracted statements have shown hints/glitches on how the case was initially handled. Resulting to calls for retrial by the defense, speculations of conspiracy by the public, stories of frame-ups and coercion by witnesses, suspicions aimed at specific individuals regarding their involvement on the crime, cries of innocence by the convicted and screams of “Free the WM3” by various pro-WM3 organizations.
I can’t really judge nor give conclusions based on the information I’ve gathered. But one thought lingers…
If the WM3 will be found innocent, will those responsible for the wrongful conviction be able to give them back the 15 youthful years they have lost?
Image courtesy of: www.wm3.org
Christopher McCandless’ Journey
While reading the book “Into the Wild” by Jon Krakauer, I referred to tribute sites, on-line documentaries and wiki entries to fully understand Christopher McCandless, a hiker deemed to be the icon for today’s generation, and his way of thinking. I wanted to find out: is he worth being called “an inspiration” by the free-spirited youth of today? Or was he really just a wayward soul whose thirst for adventure and irresponsible ways resulted to his tragic end?
Right after his college graduation in 1990, he donated all his money to charity and left his comfortable home to have an adventure in pursuit of happiness. During his quest, he met and befriended people he encountered in different towns whose deep concern for him failed to override his determination to experience joy on his own. Was he a future philosopher or a crazy idealist? I wouldn’t know. But those who got to speak with him were awed and inspired by his amazing anecdotes regarding his exploration towards self-fulfillment.
In 1992, with low food supply and inadequate equipment/tools (map, watch, compass – not even money), he hitchhiked his way to Fairbanks, Alaska, with the goal towards his ultimate dream – extreme joy and contentment away from a materialistic world, isolated from the rest of humanity. He called it his “Alaskan Odyssey”. In the wilderness, he sought refuge inside an abandoned bus and survived on what nature could offer him (wild animals and berries).
In the long run, he realized that happiness could not be found in a life of solitary confinement, so he decided to head towards civilization – only to turn back because the trail was blocked by the filled up river.
Four months after he hitchhiked to Fairbanks, his body was found in his sleeping bag inside the bus (it was concluded that he died due to starvation). His journal and some handwritten notes he posted on the bus gave the investigators a clear idea regarding his ordeal.
Personally, I found his story inspiring, not because of his intense fixation in finding his destiny, but because of the lesson he learned, albeit too late – that “Happiness (is) only real when shared” (one of the last journal entries he made).
“Into the Wild” was made into a feature film in 2007, directed by Sean Penn and starring Emile Hirsch.
(The fantastic OST, by the way, was done by Eddie Vedder)
The Lost Travelers
In the book, Jon Krakauer also mentioned a few travelers whose fates were similar to that of McCandless’:
EVERETT RUESS: An artist during the 1930s who was so in love with nature that he journeyed to the deepest part of the wilderness, knowing that this was where he would find peace. No one knows what happened to him, as if he just vanished into think air… but apparently, this was how he wanted things to be, as one of his writings said, "When I go, I leave no trace."
JOHN WATERMAN: A born daredevil, a respected adventurer, he always had the desire to conquer mountains of various heights. He disappeared after he was seen hiking towards the highest summit in North America in the winter of 1981, with only an abandoned camp, plus a single snowshoe track, to tell the story.
While surfing for their stories, I came across these other names:
CARL McCUNN: A photographer who went to the Alaskan wilderness in the 1980s to take some shots. He somehow forgot to confirm the helicopter’s pick-up on a specific day, and after almost a year of being stranded he decided to end his life.
JOHN FRANKLIN: He was the captain of the 1845 Arctic exploration that claimed his life, as well as the lives of all of his 128 crewmen due starvation, injury, fatigue, frost-bite etc.
ROBERT FALCON SCOTT: Finding out that his team was not the first to reach the South Pole (in 1912), they headed back down with heavy hearts. Due to exhaustion and injuries, they never made it home. Sadly, only 3 out of 5 bodies were found.
See why my day has become depressing?
While there are people who need to do extraordinary things for some therapy, I just go visit any of these 3 stores.
WILCON BUILDERS
This is a new discovery of mine. My mom and I went to one of the depots near our house because we needed to buy tiles for our bathroom. But due to the variety of home builders materials, and how they were showcased via showrooms and wall decors, we’ve practically drawn up a design for each of the rooms in our house, while, in reality, we were only there to get 12 pieces of ceramics.
NATIONAL BOOKSTORE
Not because of the books, but because of my undying love for office supplies.
FULLY BOOKED
My favorite of all, this is what I can call paradise.The Bonifacio High Streets branch is actually one entire building of pure literary bliss. There are a lot of titles to choose from, some of which are hard-to-finds. They have a section for Neil Gaiman books, another for musical autobios, Princess Diana tributes, foreign magazines, children’s activities, a “Twilight” tweens floor, a coffee shop, and one entire floor of rare CDs and DVDs.
“You know, I could live here in the ‘Rock Icons’ area, with Clapton, Cobain, the Beatles and Hendrix“, I once I told my Dad, when we were there for our new supply of books. I believe he just chose to ignore me.
Welcome! Hope you enjoy your stay. You will find a lot of interesting things here, especially about music. For comments and questions, please do not hesitate to use the COMMENTS box found under each post.
If you are one of those who know me personally and has been telling people how upset you are with a particular post of mine… kindly read this first.
For the entire week next week, I will be on vacation before i start with my new job (this is not yet confirmed as i have yet to talk to my soon-to-be-former boss) and I am actually planning out how i will spend it. You see, i am one of those who are not used to being idle so one week of not doing anything will probably make me all nuts (case in point: I’ve been on sick leave since yesterday and i am actually stopping myself from opening my office laptop to do some work).
So, here are my plans:
All this or just sleep on Sunday then wake up the week after.
A possibility, in my chaotic world.
update: my vacation hasn’t started yet but i was able to cross out some stuff. woah. i’m gonna have a boring week ahead of me!
this is my retail therapy and i’ve already been receiving what i’ve ordered recently:
crossroads 2004
sliding doors, my favorite movie of all time
this is scheduled to arrive tomorrow…
my sister, who’s here for a vacation, brought home the other crossroads DVD which she ordered for me.
and of course, the best thing is that sometime this month, i’ll be receiving this book which my “twin”, thomas kohnstamm (same exact birthday, who shares my love for traveling — he’s a writer for lonely planet and national geographic), wrote. the connection to amazon — he told me to cancel my order since he has already sent me a signed copy (as a gift).
“I have to make sure to keep in touch and help out my twin,” he says.
yup, i have one. but i’ve never met him in person.
seriously. we were born on the same exact date. november 24, 1975! when i learned about this, i decided to PM him via myspace about a year ago and up to now, we’d email each other regarding what’s up with us, our trips, work etc.
his name is thomas kohnstamm, a lonely planet author who has had a lot of unique experiences and adventures while covering different countries (mostly in south america). he decided to come up with a book containing his anecdotes, that, quite interestingly, have caused a stir.
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Do Travel Writers Go to Hell?: A Swashbuckling Tale of High Adventures, Questionable Ethics, and Professional Hedonism by Thomas Kohnstamm |
so, if you’re into traveling, lonely planet books and travel authors’ adventures, go read it. for details, visit the official website.
…what i couldn’t capture with my lens, he could capture through his words.
my parents and i went to Fully Booked, the country’s biggest bookstore chain, and my dad treated us by getting us books that we have been dying to read.
the good thing about is that we all loved what each has chosen, and we can’t wait to swap books once we’re done with ours.
my book (music… baby!)
my mom’s (a true fan of royalty)
my dad’s (obviously into scandals and intrigues)
Technorati Tags: books,clapton,diana,elvis,hilton,fully booked
I love music.
"Never take it seriously, you never get hurt. Never get hurt, you can always have fun. And if you ever get lonely, you just go to the record store and visit all your friends."
- Penny Lane (Almost Famous)
... and I'm scared of revolving doors.
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