Once A Groupie, Always A Duranie

I saw the moon the other night and started to hum one of my favorite 80’s tunes. My Fab Five for the longest time were Simon, John, Nick, Roger and Andy. No, they were not ex-boyfriends---though for awhile I was convinced that John Taylor just had to be mine.

They are Duran Duran.

They epitomized style with breakthrough music videos directed by Russell Mulcahy in very exotic places like Sri Lanka and Antigua. A very unheard of thing at the time when MTV was just starting out.
The band had the look, the sound, the girls and the hats.
Duran Duran - New Moon On Monday

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Living in Manila where the Tiger Beats were 6 months delayed, it was hard to be a groupie. But that did not stop me from obsessing. I traded videos with other fans around the world and collected articles sent to me by either family or friends from Europe and America. When I finally migrated to the U.S., I more than made up for the drought by lining up for autograph signings, waiting for them to go in and out of back doors en route to The David Letterman Show, and then camping at hotel lobbies, meeting other Duranies eager to share their stories.

I was too busy swooning over J.T. to have paid real close attention to his bass guitar skills. After the height of their popularity and before they branched out into The Power Station and Arcadia, I did finally realize that there was actually more to them than just eye candy.

The original five has since disbanded, partially reunited, and fully reunited again. Throughout their ups and downs, I was right there with them, and them with me.

I read somewhere that we meet certain people, some fleeting, some for a longer time, and we go through phases that we might be moved forward in our lives. That these people and situations are actually brought to our lives for a particular purpose. During that period of time, Duran Duran was my reprieve as my parents' marriage ended.

They’re still putting out albums and doing gigs worldwide. Only now they have haggard faces and their leather pants much too snug. What has not changed however is their ability to rouse the audience with great live performances. Such catchy lyrics like, “please, please tell me now” afterall, is just too damn hard to shake off your system.
Duran Duran-Is there Something I Should Know? For Myspace

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The Art of “Silly”, Silly

I often thank my lucky stars for having the "easily amused" gene. It may seem shallow at times, but it’s really what I need to do to rise above and reach a certain depth in my everyday existence.


The ability to find delight in random little things is an act of survival. Without this, it's harder to bounce back from disappointments and challenges. Without this, we are less in tune with and less appreciative of what we have around us.

I like erasers. I admit I really do. As a child, I had this Danish Cookies tin box that I kept under my bed. In it weren't sweets, but rather a wide assortment of erasers in every shape and scent. I even put them perfectly in place in the plastic mold tray (ok, I just told you too much). I never really used them, but they were there for me to look at and be delighted. Silly yes, but I was onto something.

While I don't keep a tin can under my bed anymore, I do have a number of little things still around that make me smile when I need to. For instance, I have a "Chinese Combo Lunch" Robot set. One is a beef bowl 'bot, the other an Oolong Tea. Together they fight off alligators and Account Executives on my desk.


I don't mean to be constantly going nuts and raving joyously at anything and everything. That would be too annoying for everyone around you. What I do mean however is looking for joy, humor and value in unexpected places or situations. And when there's none, create it. This is why I love torturing one of my co-workers. In always trying to one-up each other in fun little ways, we find “comic relief” in an otherwise monotonous environment. I also smile at this homeless man's jokes every night as I pass him on my way home. Sometimes I even laugh out loud 10 seconds after, when finally I get the corny joke. And just like that, it could turn my day around. And his.

Every day will always be a constant battle for all of us to stay up and running, but when we find amusement in things or in people, it gives us a little boost to keep going. This is not silly, it's how we get a fighting chance at happiness in life. For only when we allow ourselves to laugh at ourselves, can we be prepared for the more serious stuff up ahead.

These Are A Few Of My Favorite Things...

Like all creatives, I have a number of tricks to beckon my muse.
Some are tried and tested, some are spur of the moment discoveries in which my muse actually came and found me.

Here are the first 20 off the top of my head:
• fresh or dried lavender next to me
• new office supplies
• music, various kinds
• cooking. Particularly, mincing, dicing or chopping
(depends how much anger you need to release. Just be careful where you wield)
• eating a nice meal (mom and pop joints)
• the scent of cedar and grass after the rain
• a visit to Target (relatively new but believe me, very, very effective)
• the sight, the breeze and the smell of the ocean
• a baby's hard grip on my finger
(If he's my nephew, it's 200% more effective)
• Cinema Paradiso
• reading anything and everything
(note: drawing inspiration, good. Blatantly copying, not good)
• a good cup of Joe (jolts the snoozing goddess)
• great conversation
• a solo stroll (or a workout)
• getting a hair cut. It’s a weird thing, but I’m the opposite of Samson.
• competition. "Anything you can do, I can do better."
• awesome work from other creatives that makes me say,
"I wish I did that"
• awful work from other creatives that leaves me speechless
• sleeping, showering, brushing my teeth (very underappreciated, but very classic. This is called the “walk away and forget about it” tactic)
• everything in the Julie Andrews song except for the wild geese bit
(see: http://youtube.com/watch?v=c5dNV7a3vck)

I Heart Saul Bass

A picture is worth a thousand words. And Saul Bass’ film posters and opening sequence designs have always managed to evoke the narrative of the movies he created them for. His body of work is the stuff of legendary images that have surrounded us for decades.


Growing up, I used to watch a lot of old films courtesy of the neighborhood video store, aptly called “Oldies But Goodies”. Of course at the time, I had no concept of bootlegging whatsoever and so at least once a week, in broad daylight I’d go there and check out home-dubbed VHS tapes (before this, I was also renting betamax tapes, but that’s another story).

I looked forward to these movies. When I say this I mean the whole experience of watching a movie. I wasn’t running to the bathroom when the opening sequence played, nor was I discarding popcorn kernels when the ending credits rolled. I would sit there absolutely riveted.


Saul Bass’ film posters were not only avant garde for his generation, but to this day, they still mesmerize me. Unlike mug shots of million dollar celebrities in the world of key art, they always had a key message instead. They had heart and soul.

Nowadays, while I judge these things with a trained creative’s eye, and sometimes admittedly with some pretentious snootiness, the young girl in me just really wants to be moved and amused, regardless of composition, color theory or hidden meanings.