Last Sunday was rather interesting for me. I accompanied Mich to Capone’s for poker night. Since I don’t play poker, I was there really to teach her drums. It’s convenient really; as neither of us owns a drum kit, Capone’s is the most logical choice to hold lessons.

The lessons went as usual, though Mich had to recall what I previously taught her. When poker was setup, I was left on the 1^st floor to practice my drumming. Thanks to the newly acquired E3C headphones I scored from Kathy, I was happily pounding away on the skins while listening to my iPod (I realized I don’t know how to play jazz anymore). Whenever I got tired or felt warm, I’d go up to the second floor and grab a drink. On one of those occasions, Nino setup a separate table for black jack and invited me to play.

Black Jack is one of the few card games I’m particularly confident in playing. I not only know how to play it, but I enjoy it as well. I ended up playing the whole night. Sometimes I’d be up, sometimes I’d be down. At the end of the night I was down 40 bucks. Not bad really.

This coming Sunday I might go back. Jay Server and I were talking about bringing in a projector and watching a few DVDs while poker went on. That would be fun. I’d bring a few of my favorite movies along just to have something to keep me occupied between card games.

TITLE: BLACK JACK – THE HIVES

I came back from Davao last Sunday. We went there for the Kadayawan festival (in which Davao celebrates the harvest season of fruits, particularly the Durian). Our gig at Pop’s Life went off really well with some of the Capone’s regulars mixed in with the locals. Jay Server even guested for the second set. The night ended with us partying and drinking.

The next day our host Paolo Duterte brought us to Talikod island for a bit of beach going. Joining us were Borgy and Ornussa (as their alter egos Brucey and Nussy), making our troop a little bigger. The trip on the boat was enjoyable with someone cracking a joke every so often. The island had a nice beach and a banquet was set up for us. We’d be running back and forth between the water and the food. Eventually we had to ship back to the mainland.

Back at the hotel we were in for more eating at the buffet; finishing just in time to get ready for another visit to Pop’s life. This time we were there as guests. I got everyone drunk that night. I was passing out drinks left and right to even people I didn’t know. My arsenal consisted of three bottles of Jaegermeister, a bottle of Tequila, shots of scotch and rhum, and tons of beer. I think the K-lite crew we were with didn’t know what hit them. As drunk as we were, we crawled back to the hotel and ordered more beer from room service. This is the point where we become really crazy. Since we were all on one floor of the hotel, we were all running around the halls in our boxer shorts. It was hilarious. We all ended up in one room and kept the party going.

To wind down the trip, Paolo took us to his rest home 2000ft. above the city. It was amazing. More akin to a country club than a house; it had manicured lawns, a roof deck jacuzzi, and even a pitching green. We had another banquet of a lunch there; with lechon to boot. Of course the visitors were also given the chance to try the much maligned (I think so) Durian. After that we shot a few videos and listened to mushy love songs, while half the group went to the back of the lot to check out the chicken farm. It was there we bid goodbye to our gracious host and hoped we would come back there some other time.

The adventure wasn’t over yet though. We were stuck for an extra two hours at the airport due to our flight being delayed. Good thing the Davao airport is nice (with an airport fee of only 40 bucks to boot). We found ourselves a restaurant to park in and stayed there for most of the stay. We were still messing around up until boarding the plane. We were easily the rowdiest bunch at the airport.

This is a concise telling of the story. Much of the detail has been left out to protect the reputations of those involved. But you can check some of our pictures out at the Multiply site of BeingFrank.

TITLE: BACK HOME - YELLOWCARD

In about an hour from now I, with the rest of Overtone, will be at the airport awaiting our flight to Davao. We’re playing a gig there tonight for the anniversary of some bar (I forget the name). Caco, Hillary, Jay Server and Chiqui will also be with us. The best part is that we’re only playing tonight. We’ll be hitting the beach tomorrow and flying home Sunday evening. A free vacation; this is going to be fun.

TITLE: FLY - OVERTONE

My foot has gotten much better. In fact I’ve been able to play badminton. To tell you the truth, I started playing badminton even when my foot wasn’t exactly fine yet. I couldn’t help it. Ponstan was a constant companion.

That first day I played was well thought out. My bandage, Bengay and my pain killers were in my bag. I even bought well cushioned badminton shoes. So I played. My stamina was all gone. I was winded just at the warm up. I had to sit a lot. Once my second wind kicked in I was fine. I played a good game that day.

The aftermath was funny. My entire body ached except for my bad foot. The following days that I played weren’t as bad (except for the very next game where I threw my shoulder). Overall I think my foot is much better. To think, I still haven’t gotten it x-rayed.

TITLE: STEP YO GAME UP – SNOOP DOG

After that crap gig I had the other week, I’ve come back to redeem myself big time. In my attempt to get back in the saddle, I’ve been pushing myself by playing with two bands; Overtone and Blush.

I always play with Overtone so it’s nothing new. Blush however I never played with. When they asked me to play for them on the day of their gig I knew there was fun to be had. At the count off of the first song I had no idea what I was doing. “Just go with it” I said. So I did. Amazingly, it came out decently. They asked me to play with them again for another gig. That was even better.

Now I think I’m back in form. The cool part is I got to exercise my other chops too. It’s been a while since I’ve stretched my playing a bit. I’d like to thank the two Blushies for having faith in me. I’m playing with them for as long as I’m available. It’s a good feeling.

TITLE: BRING THE BEAT BACK – SHE’S SUNSHINE feat. MILLA

There are a lot of things in the past month that I haven’t blogged about yet, but I just had to write about last night. Last night was the worst, let me repeat, worst performance I have ever given. I was playing like a retard.

We were at Capone’s last night for the weekly Tuesday gig. I set up properly and all or the usual crap kit of the place. First song was “Hold On” by Good Charlotte. Everything is fine till I get to the big dramatic, yet very simple, fill; and then I choke. It was so bad (how bad was it?!); It was so bad that the audience all noticed it and applauded (all in good fun of course). Basically I tripped on the fill; enough that I actually stopped playing to try to get back to where I was supposed to be. Nasty!

My crap performance didn’t end there though. The rest of the first set was just horrible. I couldn’t do a lot of even just the simple stuff. I even messed the Jay Server set up; you’ve got to know its bad then. It also didn’t help that the tuning of the snare drum was slipping. I kept fiddling with it in between songs to get it to sound half-decent. The second set was by far much better. I was still playing very dirty though. Man, I just wanted that gig to end.

I really don’t know what happened to me. I didn’t even drink before the first set (hmmm…). I can’t even remember a time that I’ve been that bad. This has got to top my “all time worst performance” list. Oh well, all I can do now is laugh at it.

TITLE: CRAP HANDS - BECK