Confessions Revisited

© Joselito Briones

Right after confessing to me that he has designed a lighting set up in in the living room, which he proudly refers to as "beer garden look" (pertaining to the seedy places in the Philippines where people get drunk and gawk at strippers, not the European establishments dedicated to their beloved refreshment - photo above is of one of the decorations), and showing it to me, Wil and I watched the DVD of the confessions tour, which we saw live in Amsterdam late last year. Everything was enhanced tenfolds: the good parts looked so much better, the choreography, the movement of the dancers, facial expressions lost on the stage from where we sat. Even at the concert it was obvious she had a great videographer, and it showed even more so in the videos.

Unfortunately, the failures also became more visible. And interestingly enough the details of the manipulation of the audience are also now very much visible. Where she succeeded, it's amazing how much she can solicit from the audience, when she failed, it made me want to just click the fast forward button. One of the most interesting things in the extras is finding out that the awesome freerunner from the James Bond movie, Sebastien Foucan, was involved in the choreography, and Wil's favorite back-up dancer, Daniel "Cloud" Campos, whom he told me was part-Filipino, was also highlighted.


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Valentine's day dinner

© Joselito Briones

Poor Jerome. He should've known better than to bring his Valentine's Day present for Ronnie to Wil's. Upon greeting Jerome at the door, Wil immediately asked if the flowers that Jerome was carrying was for him. Wil being the host and Jerome the guest, there was really nothing else for him to say but yes, indeed he bought the flowers for Wil. Upon hearing the commotion at the door, I took a peek. When Jerome saw that I saw him giving the flowers to Wil, he was forced to give me something too, to be fair. He handed me the box of chocolates he was holding. Good thing he still had one more thing in his hands, a bottle of pink champagne from Brüt, which he immediately handed to Ronnie, the intended recipient of all three presents, in case somebody else turns up to greet him at the door and he'd have to give up the champagne to somebody else, too.


© Joselito Briones

On the menu tonight was roast leg of lamb, and honeycomb cannelloni with tomato and mushroom ragu, which Wil prepared while Ronnie and I watched (photo, above).

He had to return to the grocery store a couple of times, having forgotten some rather key ingredients (for a dish that's basically cannelloni in tomato-based sauce, he forgot to buy both cannelloni and tomato).


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Of dreams and videos

© Joselito Briones

Whoever said that there is something that connects people subconsciously together via dreams and thoughts must be on to something. Last night I dreamt of Noel, one of my brothers who live in the Yay! area in California, and this morning the first thing that I see upon turning on the computer was an email from him. And no, we don't regularly email each other nor do I constantly dream of him, or anyone and anything for that matter. I know. Coincidence. Anyway, his email was an inquiry as to what happened to the tapes from when I recorded his kids on video, while performing for the christmas party in the Philippines. Guess I'm gonna have to go through the tapes soon. After the London trip.

I also went to the doctor today, finally, after deciding that ice cream and aspirins aren't getting rid of my mandeln fast enough. It's almost gone, but it's still slightly uncomfortable when I swallow. He prescribed some antibiotics, and said that the mandeln thing is going around in Erlangen, and that he's examined a few too many other patients suffering from the same condition. He also said if it happens too often, like 3 times a year, then I should consult a heart doctor because those might very well be connected to each other.


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