Orangutans and Speakers, Together at Last

As you all know, i have dealt in the business of awesomeness for a long time now. And when i go on a hot streak, i tend to not play it up too much, because the laws of statistics tend to even things out. However, you can start calling me the Joe DiMagio of Awesomeness, because i am rolling! Let me explain.

Thursday: The Sexpatriots' new speakers and amplifier were delivered to my house. Manila is about to be hit hard with dual 500 W speakers and amp brought to us by Yamaha. This was acoustically awesome.

Friday: The last day of school of before break. That evening we boarded a plane and flew to Jakarta, Indonesia. A Canadian friend of ours (Eric), had his parents' driver pick us up from the airport and take us to their home. Bizarre, eh? This was internationally awesome.

Saturday: We flew from Jakarta to the large jungle island of Borneo. We were picked up from the airport, put on a boat, and sailed up the river into the jungle. We had only been on the boat for about 2 hours when we saw a giant orangutan hanging from a tree eating. Then we went to an orangutan sanctuary and saw about 5 more orangutans scarfing bananas! This was environmentally awesome.

Sunday: We woke up on the boat, and sailed into the famous Camp Leakey. Used for rehabbing orangutans. We then saw about 10 to 15 orangutans, the large male King Orangutan (Tom), and a gibbon. This was primately awesome.

Monday: Again we woke up on the boat and sailed back to camp Leakey. We saw even more orangutans. This time we saw the famous Princess. She actually knows sign language and figured out how to steal a canoe. We also saw the gibbon again. A gibbon may even be more awesome than an orangutan. It is like a miniature swinging orangutan on crack. This was swingingly awesome.

Tuesday: Today, we again woke on the boat and sailed back downstream to the nearby town. We then visited a center where orphaned orangutans (stolen from their mothers) are returned. They are then cared for until old enough to face the wild. Not only did we get to hold baby orangutans, but then we also got to play with the juviniles. The term "going apeshit" means nothing until you have one orangutan swinging from your arms while another one jumps onto your head. And yes, one ape did fling some poo. This day was the definition of awesome.

Stolen From My Head

Guten tag!

It's not often that i completely steal from another person's blog, but this level of awesomeness cannot go unnoticed. The illustrious Mark Gants, on his blog Dabolikal Musings (which is excellent), has posted a German music video. I am in awe. I almost have trouble enjoying it, because i am so jealous that i neither made the video, nor got to play drums in it. If you watch the video, you'll see why. And if you ever had the good fortune to take part in (or even associate with) a marching drumline, you'll appreciate that the last part of the video does not even scratch the surface of what must have gone in to making this video.

Sexpatriotism Leads in the Polls!!

I am just about to head to my second live performance with my band, The Sexpatriots. My friends Neil and Boston are hosting a party known as ROKtoberfest. It will be a combination of quality beer and quality rock. The attire is either “old-school German lederhosen” or “rock-star.” I have cleverly combined the two. That is me in the picture. Yes, the beard is real.

The Sexpatriots have expanded our repertoire to a possible 11 songs. And in all honesty, as people explore the quality beer aspect of the party more and more, we may do the first couple songs over again, and make it a baker’s dozen.

In other exciting news, next month we have been booked for our first completely public gig, at a local pub here in Manila. Not only do we get to play for strangers, but the bar is giving us free drinks. And just in case this post couldn’t get any more ridiculous, let me throw in the fact that bar will also pay us. In cash*.

Yes indeed. It is a strange and awesome world that we live in.

* I don’t want to imply that paying in cash is outside the norm here in Manila. It’s not like most bars pay their entertainment with livestock. I’m just implying it is rare for me personally to be paid in cash to play music.

Sabotage - The Music Video

It is my great pleasure to present to you the 5th major music video production by myself and Craig. It is entitled Sabotage, and is set to the song of the same title by the classic hip hop artists, The Beastie Boys. I hope you enjoy.



And in case you're thinking, "the 5th music video??!! Holy crap! My life has been wasted up until now!" You are actually correct. What have you been doing with your life that you haven't seen the 4 previous vidoes? (presented below, in reverse chronological order, for your reverse pleasure)

You Spin Me Round 2008

U Can’t Touch This 2007

Bebot 2007

Thriller 2007

BTW: I have now officially broken up with Movie Maker and i-movie (this vid made on i-movie). Both are worthless programs.

Sexpatriots Mania Sweeps Manila!

The Sexpatriots in Awesometown. From left to right are Patrick, Steve, Jen (special guest performer), myself, Mike, and James


It is safe to say that I will not be invited to dinner by any of my neighbors. While Jen and I received no formal complaints from them, the neighboring tenants of Crown Tower could not have been overly pleased to listen to the sounds of about 100 people and the booming sound of The Sexpatriots.

Our first performance was a huge success, and I have received nothing but rave reviews. However, as a rule of thumb, when you put on a party and supply all the drinks, and then ask people how much they like you, you should expect positive responses. But I’ll take compliments wherever I can find them. We played six songs, all covers, and I’m pretty sure people could even tell what songs they were supposed to be. As a bonus, Jen even sang as special guest in the song Business Time. She knew all the words, since she has had to listen to us rehearse all the time.

Our next performance will be in just over a week, at a friend’s birthday party. In fact, most of the people who saw us last night will be the same people who will be at the birthday party. This is slightly problematic because we don’t really know any more songs. No matter. We’ll adjust the lighting, play the songs in a different order, and wear sunglasses. It’ll be a whole new world.