My Sad Republic: Cremains

Kurt Cobain's ashes stolen, Courtney Love said.
Inventor of the Pringles can now stored in a Pringles can

Judge Brawner

Farewell, Judge Brawner

The Dave Tabligan Quartet

Natayen ni Manang Dave

Dave Tabligan died today. Here's my original story on him:

BAGUIO'S PIANO MAN

"He says, "Son can you play me a memory
I'm not really sure how it goes
But it's sad and it sweet and I knew it complete
When I wore a younger man's clothes"
Piano Man, Billy Joel

Robert David Tabligan was 23 when this song came out. He had been playing the
piano for 17 years when he got his first piano lesson at six. He was already working
as a professional piano man in 1973 for seven years.  

Billy Joel may have composed that song for himself but people who know or
were touched by Dave and his piano-playing would always equate that song to him.

"I can not imagine being anything else," Dave said.

We, too, can not imagine Dave anything else but a piano man.
Born February 10, 1950, Dave was only six when he first got his piano lesson.
His mother sang and also a piano player. His grandfather was also a musician.
Other than these, there was no answer from nature how Dave got his ear for music
and how he can effortlessly play your memories.

He was 16, a high school student of SLU Boys High and already playing for the 
University of Baguio Science High and PE Department when he was recruited to
play at the A&D Inn in what is now Nevada Square.

There was a casino there or maybe a clandestine one because the chips,
roulette tables and other paraphernalia can easily be hid and the whole place
transformed into an instant birthday party when the police raided, Dave recalled. 

Dave played then for Helen Cruz. 

I was so naïve then. I asked Helen if she had a husband," Tabligan said.
Helen Cruz as it turned out was one of the first transgender siren who later dated
famous people like Indonesia's President Sukarno and celebrities Troy Donahue,
Ricardo Montalban and Matt Monroe.   

 Dave played for Helen at the La Playa and Trader's Hotel in Manila. That's where
he met a band that was about to go to Japan. Dave told the manager that he, too,
wanted to go. He was fitted with the same suit as the band and they played at the 
Riviera's Club at the Roponggi District in Tokyo. Dave went solo while the band
went back to the Philippines and played piano at a bar near a US military base in 
South Korea. Then he went back to Japan. The rest in the comments

Curtains

Yes, Spurs fans will talk about the foul on Barry that never came but there were fouls that weren't called anyway. Whatever it is, it's curtains. 1-3 and they are going to LA. Here's Kobe's call on the thing:

Abie Hofmann

Albert Hofmann, the father of the mind-altering drug LSD, died. Guess how old was he? 60? 70? 80? No, he was 102 years old. Makes you think.

Lakay Tinong

Florentino Lardizabal, 39, radio broadcaster of RPN9
Baguio, died April 29 night of cerebral aneurysm. Lardizabal, more
known as "Lakay Tinong" to his listeners for more than 15 years, felt
his aneurysm burst on his way to this 6:00 am broadcast last April 28
morning and never recovered from comatose. He is survived by his wife
and four children. He was the vice-president of Baguio Benguet
Correspondents and Broadcasters Club and would like to be
remembered for his good cookingand easy humor. Another RPN9
stalwart, Baby de Guzman, died earlier this month.

Close to the Heart

Tinong Lardizabal, the morning anouncer of RPN9 here, had a stroke this morning and is still unconscious up to now. He is our kababata, though of the gin side of drinking. But still makes you think. Last saw him during the Media Camp of the BCBC at Burnham where he was camp director. Funny guy.
Mr. Vampire himself, Ed Cabagnot, came to town after his API (Asian Public Intellektwal) and raised havoc as usual at Rumours. But we know things are not the same. Sid is dead (he gave some info which can not be blogged just yet about the circumstance of his death) and the Maharishi is dead. In fact, Ed mentioned about astrological things that predicted such deaths. The last time was in the Age of Aquarius 30 plus years ago when Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison and Janis Joplin died within a month or so.

Chaos

Not ironic that Edward N. Lorenz, the father of deterministic chaos, died of something as organized as cancer. But chilling to know that after the "Father of Blackholes" died, Lorenz has to follow.
In deference, AI tried to put a little order in our lives.

Infinitesimal Dot

John Wheeler, a physicist who coined the term "black hole," died at age 96.
In his 1999 autobiography he explained what can be learned by studying black holes:
"That space can be crumpled like a piece of paper into an infinitesimal dot."

Sid's Easter Poem

Poet's Easter Morning at the Beach

The sun shedding its cloudy shroud;
The grey mountain rising up to green;
The shore reclaiming its former shape;
The early swimmer surfacing to air;
The crab scurrying out of its burrow;
The hermit abandoning its shell;
The driftwood touching land;
The poet at the threshold of wakefulness,

for a time losing all words for all things,
forgetting all names and all meanings,
and it doesn’t have to be a Sunday.

Sid

I got a text from dear Babeth early this morning:

Fr a CCP Official - Sid Hildawa will be cremated this morning then wake will be at the Dis Bosco Chapels. He passed away last nyt due to pneumonia

So I said something about April Fools
Her next txt was:

Sid's last entry in his journal yesterday night said: "I tried to cross the river but the current was so strong."

The Importance of Being Ernest

Well, I don't know what got into me last week when I wrote about Coco Banana, a disco I never visited but heard so much about. And then a while back (while I was in Pagudpud), I got a message from Butch P that Ernest Santiago was stabbed dead by two young boys in Pagsanjan. That house we visited in 1991 with other young journalists. O Manang Erning! I imagine you peeping at the Disco Upstairs telling San Pedro, Iyan huwag papasukin. Iyan, puwede. Iyan, pauwiin.

Karaoke with the Dead

At the Manila North Cemetery, no one cares if you sing, "My Way."