You should try Globe's Spotify!

Ikot-ikot from Sarah G (just G not Geronimo, you loser). I think she is confessing about redundancy or some similar sh*t in her brain in this song. I listen and sing to this more than I will ever admit.

I live in less-than-ideal conditions in the rural areas of Iloilo province therefore, we barely have the amenities of city bois and gurls. What we do have is 3.5G signals flying over our heads (and the carabao's heads) from Globe Telecom. I thank you in behalf of everyone Globe for extending an invitation to modern technology. I gladly accept. Take me now.

Globe announced their new tie-up with Spotify, a music platform where you get to stream music and save them offline (for free and legally). Spotify announced it too on their blog and I did read the title as "Mabuhey!".

I think Spotify is to act like antiseptic to the blood gushing out of the wounds from the announcement of new GoSurf plans (very limited GBs as opposed to the browse till you die SuperSurf).

I love this woman so much. Check the Now Playing bar at the bottom. Look for that song and don't forget to thank me after!

Spotify is great. I spend 999 for the monthly internet subscription and with that I get a premium account + additional GBs dedicated to the platform. If you subscribe to sub-PHP299 packages, you'll get a less grand basic account which I presume is uncool.

It is a pretty app with a wonderful selection of music. You get to discover new artists too. New artists that you will bring with you to bed and listen to until you sleep. Blagargarl. There is a Discover tab but it sucks. Hit or miss – no artificial intelligence taste-makers. What we need in this world are algorithms who could tell us what to listen to, what to eat and what to do with our lives.

I've been actually listening to too much soul Africana these past few days. I'm such a sucker for exoticism. (Proof: I do Tae Bo which is a success story on orientalism + vain western intentions)

Claiming your premium account is a little flimsy though. You go to Globe's website then you enter in your phone number blah blah. The instructions are pretty clear except in the end you will be second guessing if everything actually worked. In my case it did. Lucky me.

I miss Royskopp & Robyn. I'm into North European music. Does celtic sound count? I dig that too!

Here are field notes:

• Streaming in this app counts against a different quota ergo not affecting your general internet loitering/browsing quota
• It is pretty
• Great song selection. Upwards of 30 Million songs. Most of them are noise but whatever. You don't need much effort to find the treasure troves. 
• Since I read financial reports and I'm a boring person, they actually have good pay-outs to artists on their platforms. Their goal is to make people pay for music and to not just be good-for-nothings waiting for free stuff. Omg guys, we need to pay the artists. Arianna Grande's name could be an adjective for her bank about but what about the other people with beat-up Congo drums and bad hair? 
• Extensive OPM support. I'm not an OPM fan but I do love seeing who can sustain "Ikot-ikot lang, ikot ikot. Ikot-ikot lang." So far Sarah G. leads by 300:1. I can win this with practice. I do love some OPM like Eheads omg I can challenge you to a sing-off just e-mail me. Calla Lily too because I had icky elementary days. 
• You can save music for offline listening if you have a Premium account, since everything now is quick to pointing out if you could afford stuff or just a try-hard. It has a basic ad-supported free service.

And since I can't stand people not being entirely sure of what I mean, the last item on that list is a snarky comment on the hellhole this world has become. Those thoughts are in a separate chamber of my brain dresser I wouldn't like to explore this early in the morning.

This might be the best thing to happen to the Philippines since Limewire.

Thanks for reading! Have a productive day. Brush your teeth. Kthanksbye.

The thought processes of a spendthrift

I check my bank account and holy crap I have money I need to buy crap like an HDMI adaptor for my laptop, those black shoes because despite being ugly, they are comfy and on 50% discount. I also need new pants, not the cheap average kind, I like the Levi's 501s because those bifurcates last a lifetime and also new goggles because the cheap Intex ones would probably render me blind in the long run. Also a new phone because omg radiation crap will turn my head to toast and new phones are much safer. Also booking tickets to Phuket and disprove my sister's bickering about it being pronounced "Puket" and not "Fuket" Oh let me book an open ticket just so I can bring a local and ask him to tell my sister it's not "Puket". And save $150 just in case it is actually "Puket"– maybe I can buy my way into being correct. blah blah blah.... oooh shiny let me buy the crap out of that useless thing....

This blog will turn into a self-help slab for a spendthrift. Subscribe at your leisure.

How do you know your own Globe number?

I'm back to the Philippines from a month-long staycation in Jakarta. Misuse of staycation but I won't call something more than two weeks a vacation. That is like permanent tourism. Ugh. I was there to bond with my sister, her daughter and her friend/s. That was fun and something I wish I could do every waking hour of my life for forever.

I love Jakarta. It's a real city unlike Iloilo which is still mid-pubescent, sophomore year into its city-ness.

We bought this from Jakarta. They definitely didn't mean narcotic but I'm too immature.

Moving on, how do you find out what your own Globe number is?

I use Globe Tattoo for my daily internet needs and aside from their harrowing per GB charge, I can't seem to figure out what my phone number is. This is sad because I have zero balance on that sim card, I've lost the sim card kit (they call it a kit but it was just the sim card holder card thingy, several pieces of paper wrapped in, guess what? Paper).

In Jakarta, they have a dedicated number just to find out what you're number is. Props to XL, Telkomsel and all the melyons of providers they have there. The competition is so wild there they give you thousands of free SMS credit just by sending four or five text messages. Crazy.

I've been loading it using Globe phone cards. You use the sim card to dial out the numbers so you don't need to know your number to reload (as opposed to Autoload Max - which is a superhero name for budget phone credit). I subscribed to a promo and now the juan belyon pesos is gone so I can't text or call myself.

There is this lengthy method I found online. Go find it yourself but it's definitely not hassle-free. It includes M-Pins, registering with your information. Since I run a prostitution ring, I just can't divulge information like that.

By the way, sorry for the prostitution joke. It's a real problem and not funny. Also, downing a bucket of ice over your head is a really messed up way of helping a non-profit organization. So boo you society. Boo you.

Poetry - Stars

" 

I cling to stars.

Hard diamonds, 

Rigid in a universal frame.

Look up - lights.

"You are not blind

Do not say so."

Heavy crucifix to shape my form

Pointing towards the pole, (north).

Directing a wrought-out man

Tonight you look the same as last time.

No struggle in

Finding gaps

To bury my fingernails in.

To cling on and slowly spin

Round and round.

Shhhhhh…(louder)

Shhhhhh…

A scalpel streaking against the

Tar black forehead of God.

Falling, Shooting.

A beautiful display to conceal

Panic and fear.

Running back and forth, falling

Sought-after words that start and end

On Point.

Faithless falling stars.

The night sky is a deep darkness

With firmly set lights,

Begging for trust."

from December 2012