The spell is working oh-oh!

Alphabeat's album 'The Beat Is' was released late 2009, but I guess it's gotten buried in my playlist that it was only a few weeks ago that I got to really listen to it. Result: a belated obsession with its first track. I've been playing it multiple times every day for the past week, and I'm still not over it. The song is incredibly catchy, and from the video, you could see that the band is genuinely having fun and taking joy in what they're doing. Plus, they're always styled spectacularly well.

I've loved Alphabeat ever since they came out in 2007, I think, and they're just getting better. Below are videos of '10,000 Nights' (my favorite Alphabeat song ever) and 'What is Happening' (my favorite video). Enjoy!

R. M. de Leon: Very Abstract and Hyper Figurative

After a year of blogging inactivity, I return to urge you to visit the art exhibit of a brilliant artist friend.

Last night, R. M. de Leon opened his fifth major solo exhibit at the Altro Mondo Gallery in Greenbelt 5. I thought it was a stunning presentation of very confident and masterful paintings. There was playfulness in the cartoon characters exploded into near-obscurity and abstraction, but there was depth of thought, too.

The photos below hardly do the works any justice. The scale, when you see them in person, matter in experiencing this art. Do visit if you have the chance.


Altro Mondo's facade


'Landscape with Animal Ears'


'Pink Anemones with Bell Overture'










'Red with Two Goofys,' 'Red with Dopey,' 'Red Flag and Dwarfs' Feet'

'Bashful'




'Brute Force 1 & 2'