Fairly Mediocre

Today's Musical Inclination: The Dawn - Tulad ng Dati

Wala na kong makita sa iyong mga mata
Dati rati isang tingin ko lang alam ko na, alam ko na
Kung may bagyo o kung tag-araw sa iyong damdamin
Sana ay makilala kang muli
Tulad ng dati
Halina at lumipat kang muli
Tulad ng dati

-Valentine's kasi kahapon, kaya ayan, medyo pa-lab song epek tayo. All hail Francis Brew!!! Lurve the guitar riffs.
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These past few months, I have not been a bona fide UP student. I've been attending all my classes, sure, but that's pretty much it. I'm orgless, semi-friendless, and have not attended a single play, film showing or event since my acceptance into the university, not even one that was required (well, none of my professors ever required us to watch anything). I told myself, it'll be ok. I'll make it all up in the UP Fair.

So here we are. Fair week. There was much anticipation of the night to come: there was the company of friends, the electric concert atmosphere, and the promise of being able to see Aia De Leon, my one true love, performing live with that soft, cold, sexy voice of hers declaring her beautifully poetic lyrics such that they may be caught by our ears and lost into the blackness of the night. To make things even more climactic, the fair would kick off on Valentine's Day, which is one of the most "magical" nights of the year. Golly, how does one describe such a devirginizing experience? Quite difficult to put into words, but I will certainly try.

Blah.
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From all the people I had potentially lined up to accompany me, only two were actually able to make it. Not bad, but there weren't any girls. Gah. I mean, it's not like they need to be there for a romantic connection or whatever. It'd just be nice to have some variety in there, you know? Well, ok, I take that back. There was this one girl from DPS, but I barely knew her, so you know, it wasn't quite the same as, say, having a female friend there. Actually, that initial shock wasn't so bad. The four of us got along fine that night, and the girl from DPS and myself even sported our finest in anti-Valentine's threads: black as the night itself. Oh yeah.

The electric concert atmosphere, however, wasn't quite so electric. People sat on the grass about 90% of the time, usually while they were smoking it too. Well, not everyone really, just select groups. They'd stand only when they actually know the band that's playing.

It's funny when you hear all these stories of mosh pits and of people getting stabbed. In reality, the moshers crowd the areas nearest the stage, and the "normal" people tend to stay on the general perimeter of the viewing area. Besides, it isn't quite as crowded as fair virgins are led to believe.

The thing that really bugs me, though, is that I did not see Aia De Leon and the rest of Imago, nor did I see Urban Dub, Sandwich, Sugarfree, Cambio, Sponge Cola, Twisted Halo, or any of their other banner acts. All I saw was The Youth. The freakin' Youth, man. The high point of the evening was when their guitarist briefly belted out a line from Wag na Wag Mong Sasabihin in the middle of one of their songs. I know it wasn't Multong Bakla, although they did sing that as their finale.

Not bad, you say? Not bad? Not if you were there. Not if you had to endure bands with such cleverly geeky names as Old Blue Box, Elevator Action, and Lip Gloss and have absolutely nothing to show for it. Not if you sat there on the freakin' sunken garden grass blowing off all the other shit you had to do that day while desperately waiting for a chance to scream "Aia ay lab yu!!!" only to have all your time wasted in vain. Not if you had to walk down the Beta Epsilon Way with two people who apparently have fully functional third eyes, informing you that a spirit knew that they had felt it and was currently waiting for our group to go back down that way. Also, informing me never to look at Palma Hall at about 9 or later in the evening, as the resident ghost would be doing her rounds by then. Stupid as it may seem to some, I believe in such things.

So, how's that for your anti-Valentine's day huh?
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However, the night was not all bad. I spent some time with my friends, and I suppose I gained a new one at that. I listened to some of the offerings of the UP underground music community, some of them actually pretty good (and some of them actually just pretty). Oh, there is something else... my oh my, what could I be forgetting? Ahh yes... there is this Sponsor's Ticket that entitles me to free entrance to the UP Fair all week long, courtesy of Jeff's friend, that girl from DPS. Actually, she gave Jeff the ticket, but he wouldn't be going again until Saturday, so I offered to take it off his hands until the weekend. It would be a shame to waste it, no? No one objected anyways, so hey, party on!

Still, looking back, it wasn't what it could have been. Had it not been for my morning classes, maybe I could have caught the better bands. Had it not been for classes in general, perhaps my friends could have stayed longer. My experience in all was hampered by these things, and now I can't help but ask myself:

Was all this really worth the risk of getting bombed?
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Completely Wrong Thought of the Day:

Today's wrong thought is brought to you by the UP Fair. The scene is this:
The four of us were walking back to AS parking, by way of the aforementioned Beta Epsilon Way. I was asking my newfound friend a couple of things about the ticket, which was subjected to a single-hole puncher during entry.

Me: So pano yun, yung ticket reusable this whole week, tapos everyday siya de-punch?
Girl: Oo.
Me: Eh pano yung de-kick?
*outbursts of laughter from everyone in the group*

Ahh yes. My corny comic timing fails me not.