Riffing the stories: A Reunion at Revelation Rock

Remember that scare last year over the possibility of the world ending at 2012?

Admit it: it got you worried. It didn't help that Bruckheimer film came along (or was it all a publicity job to get attention for the movie?) and started throwing giant mountain-swallowing waves and humongous continent-wide earthquakes around on the movie screen for our benefit.

Fortunately for us writers, when we get some heebie-jeebies about something, the first thing we do-- aside from cry in a corner-- is to think: "how do I get to use that in my writing?"

This is the result, with a dash of the first line of Lenie Kravitz's "Are you going to go my way?" and a little sprinkling of Neil Gaiman.

A Reunion at Revelation Rock

“So where y’all headed?” asked the driver, his lined face watching the road for potholes. Despite his watchful eye, the potholes seemed to sneak up on their vehicle despite his tight grip on the steering.

The young man looked at the man in black riding at the back of the truck and said, “The town of Revelation Rock. I hear it’s at the end of this road. Is that right?”

“True enough,” the old man muttered. “I’m guessing you’re with the group that showed up in town. What’s your name, son?”

“I’ve been known as The Prince that will Come-- but you can call me Dragon,” he said, studying the multitude of new and old cuts on his forearms.

I mean, really: the end of the world? That's not likely to happen in our lifetimes, right?

Right?

Riffing the Stories: An Aswang Love Story

I've always liked this story about a boy who grows up to be a man but who just wants to be a lady up at Expanded Horizons. So when allmusicjunkies gave me the song, '"Dude looks like a lady" by Aerosmith, I thought I'd do a riff on it.

You can read it here:

An Aswang Love Story

He studied the person in the distance. Truth be told, the figure was too masculine to be a woman - the shoulders too broad, the Adam’s apple too prominent in the throat, and the features too strong despite the Chinese cast to the face.

It didn’t help that the sun dress he/she wore hung too loose on a thin frame. But there was something to be said about the long black hair that hung straight down to the waist, or the graceful way he/she took the pedestrian crossing.

Could be, couldn’t be, could be, couldn’t… Tom shook his head, unable to decide, once and for all, whether the figure was a woman or a man.

After all, isn't that what we all want? A happy ending? Here's one for the ladyboy...

Riffing the Stories: Working over the Holidays

Whoops, almost missed blogging about this...

As part of the past long holiday, I did a Christmas story remembering those poor souls who have to work on that day of days for allmusicjunkie.

Obviously, the inspirational first line of the song for this one is "The 12 Days of Christmas."

Working over the Holidays

Day 120, December 25, Christmas Day.From the Log of Engineer Thomas Indra-de Leon, The Aureus Orbital

On the first day of Christmas, my true love gave to me…

I can now officially announce that this is my first Christmas in space.
I’ve already tried to fix things inside the Aureus to make it appear more festive.
Unfortunately, I don’t have too much in terms of colored paper and my Christmas lights consist of the on-board monitor’s flashing LEDs.
The Company’s budget cuts also mean I can’t make my usual orbital-distance call back to Earth to my family and my parents. Fucking cheapskates. I can see the whole planet below my observation port but I can’t greet them ‘Merry Christmas.’ The absurdity of my life.

So even though some of our friends around here don't celebrate Christmas, at least they can empathize on the lonely thought of being alone on special days without your loved ones.

Cheers, folks!

Riffing the Stories: The Sleep of Prey and Predator

Remember that sleeping post I did? Well, some good came out of it as I've managed to do a short-short story on it for allmusicjunkie. The inspirational first line of the song? Madonna's "Like A Virgin", of course!

The Sleep of Prey and Predator

She walked out of the bathroom fully clothed and refreshed. She always cleaned herself after feeding. As she walked towards the bed, she thought of what she was, her kind that stalked the night and fed on only men. She had heard all the names that they had accumulated over centuries: succubus, the Old Hag, bangungot, - they meant the same thing.

More new stuff here (especially dodo dayao's excellent article songs for sci-fi adventures)!

***

Here's our quote for the day coming from US President Barack Obama, which is FTW:

"As president, I believe that robotics can inspire young people to pursue science and engineering. And I also want to keep an eye on those robots in case they try anything."

Riffing the Stories: Memoirs of an Ex-Zombie

Oooh, my third short-short story for allmusicjunkies has come out and this one I really liked doing. This time I'm riffing off from Jimi Hendrix's "Purple Haze." Check it out:

Memoirs of an Ex-Zombie

And you know what was really bad about the infection? Sure, your brain may’ve been turned off but you were still aware of what your body was doing.

The docs don’t like that idea. They say the infected were “thankfully, fully unconscious of their actions” and that “it was a blank phase in their memory”. Bullshit. We knew what we were doing but we were all in a purple haze and feeling too good to be bothered by what was happening around us.

The website also keeps on moving and improving so check out their new stuff here.

Riffing the Stories: Operation Big Brother/ Four Kings

Excellent! For those who are interested in both reading stories and grooving to music, I can now happily inform you that a local music website called allmusicjunkies is now online and ready for viewing.

What's it all about?

Well, thanks to duskwatcher, I got to meet an extraordinary bunch of people who really dig music and who wanted to share the love around. These people set up a site called allmusicjunkies and started writing a lot of music-related stuff they thought people would interesting.

They also asked me to write little fictionlets-- similar to my 15-minute writing exercises-- that riff on the first lines of songs.

Where can I find this place?

You can start off by clicking the allmusicjunkies and clicking on the 'enter' button. For those who're interested in what I've written, you can check out my first forays using Nirvana's "Smells like Teen Spirit" here. You know the song, the one that goes...

Anyway, since I was suitably inspired by what the people behind the site were doing, I thought I'd give them two-for-the-price of one:

Operation Big Brother

"Don’t call me Bubble Boy,” he snapped as he studied the group. He never had friends in his isolation and he envied the boys their camaraderie. “Are you ready?”

“Would I be dressed like this if I weren’t?” she said.

Daniel admitted that she looked good in her black cargo pants, sleeveless plaid blouse, and black metal-capped boots.“Come on, girl, show me what you got,” he said with a half-smile.

Snorting, she slid out a black metal baton that she extended with a flick of a wrist. She added, “Play some music, Bubble Boy."

Four Kings

...I’ve made a living on songs that would get the kids’ feet moving with far more verve than the prospect of sex. By then I was making deals left and right with musicians, making them play my music, instead of playing it myself. Sometimes it was just a tune or the whole song, and sometimes it was the gift of playing.

And when they didn’t pay - well, ask Robert Johnson what happened to him when he tried to avoid his rendezvous at the crossroads. Or Buddy Holly trying to fly away on his little airplane. Really, when you make a deal, you stick by it. And why not? I’m good at what I do. I make the songs that the whole world dances and listens to, so I should be paid what I’m owed, right?

There's also a lot of other stuff there, like rival riffs (celebrity match-ups), word wars (lyrical takedowns), and the latest from music from indies, the US, Europe and Asia. And oh yes, they've also got the ineluctable dodo doing top 5 lists for them.

So go on, check 'em out. And spread the word.

Sneakery Pimping

Dammit, I can't do any work without feeling guilt for not posting this week. Unfortunately, it's like feeling constipated: I feel blocked (or worse, having blogger's block!). But really, there's nothing to tell unless it's the crazed atmosphere of 'hurry and wait' at the office. What to do?

Ah, that magic word... links!



First of all, jasper of avalon.ph (also here) is holding a Moleskine notebook contest with several blogs. Go and check them out here. Personally, I don't use notebooks much but there's something to be said about having pretty notebooks like Moleskine or Picadilly, especially the decorated ones. Which is why I'm currently collecting blogs like moleskinerie, 'skine art, black cover and notebookism (and even an LJ community of moleskine users). I suppose it's akin to pen-collecting but really I'm just a cat with a magpie's eye and a packrat's heart.



In other news, ang bandang shirley just released their debut album in major record stores. I haven't found a copy yet but once I do, I'll get it signed by jing, selena and the rest of the band members for [identity-protected]. (Especially since jing bumped my car last Monday while trying to get out of parking during mads bajarias' book launch at Mag:net Katipunan! Hey you! Grrr!) Want some fun music to dance to? Try this one.



In comics news, andrew is still having problems with his kare-kare komiks kollection (...awww). But in the meantime, check out his Storyhunters series which lights a firecracker under the butt of the whole idea of interstitial/metafiction. Here's part one, part two and the concluding part three.

On the other hand, if you're old-school, I know someone who's selling the individual issues of The Wake of the Sandman comic book series (#70-75). A bit battered but still good condition if I do say so myself. Leave a comment if you're interested and I'll pass the good word on to you.

What else... Anyone else want to spread some pimpery around?