_berg loves pizza_

Is That Seat Taken?

September is here. If you don’t know that by now there is something seriously wrong with you, better get out of the rock you’re under. There’s something about the start of the -ber months that always dampens my mood. I tend to think about lots of stuff, assess my situation, worry about the world, and things like that. There is one big reason why I get like this, my family and friends know about it but I don’t think most of them realize it.

Here’s another reason… well…  these songs tell the story better than I do. Can you guess the theme? It’s pretty darn obvious.

It’s not your fault, so please stop your crying now.
- New Found Glory, “It’s Not Your Fault“

I don’t want it all back, I don’t mind where I’m at. I’ve been trying to stand tall. But I’ve been placing so much of my mind’s eye just trying to see over these walls I put in front of me.
- Peter Salett, “The Way Things Used To Be“

Old friendships fade away, love falls apart. And you’ve not spent a single day outside my heart. But, there’s just one more dream that I have left for you. I hope you’re smiling when he turns around and says I do.
- Jude, “I Do“

And I never thought it would hurt just to hear “I do” and “I do” and I do a number on myself and all that I thought to be. And you’ll be the one that just left me undone by my own, hesitation. And for the million hours that we were, well I’ll smile and remember it all then I’ll turn and go. While your story’s completed, mine is a long way from done… Your wagon’s been hitched to a star. Well now he’ll be your thing that’s new. Yeah what little I have you can borrow, ’cause I’m old and I’m blue…
- Sister Hazel, “Champagne High“

I came to see the light in my best friend. You seemed as happy as you’ve ever been. My chance of being open was broken. My words they don’t come out right, but I’ll try to say I’m happy for you… Is that seat taken? Congratulations.
- Blue October feat. Imogen Heap, “Congratulations“

Honestly over you… one lie short of true. I wished your love away…
- Cary Brothers, “Honestly“

Di siya nagbabasa ng blog na ‘to so I guess ok lang ipanglantaran ang mga ka-emo-han ko hehe. I’m sorry. Soon I will put it all behind me… soon.

To all the guys out there who know what I’m talking about, who feel these songs, this one’s for you!

Is there a cure for this?

photo by cappndave

Happy Birthday, blog!

Exactly one year ago, I bought a domain name for my old blog and gave it a new home. But since I couldn’t export all my old files from the old wordpress-hosted site, I decided to just start anew. This particular incarnation of bErG lOvEs PiZzA celebrates its first year anniversary online today. In total, I have been blogging for three years now. Gosh, I never would have thought that I would last this long running a blog on the world wide web. For everyone who has been with me throughout the past three years, and to all the new friends I have made along the way, thank you very much for all of your support. For everyone who still visits the blog despite its seriously-inadequate updating schedule, thank you for your loyalty.

Its been quite obvious that I have sort of neglected the site for the past seven months or so… yes, I’ve been slacking. But I have my list of reasons. The past few months have been trying times in the world of a guy named berg. This is why I have decided to enlist the help of some friends. That’s right! In the next few weeks, I will be introducing you guys to new names (and probably faces, yes?) who will help me give you your fix of good music that deserve your attention and time… whether these be the latest releases or forgotten gems from the not-so-distant days of old. These friends of mine will help inject new life into this sad deserted corner of the online world haha.  Don’t you worry coz I hand-picked them myself and let me tell you… you are in good hands with these guys.

Here’s a party-sounding song to celebrate this momentous occasion… do I smell a potential hit here? You tell me…

LMFAO – “La La La (On Top of the World)”

You guys still know how to save the songs to your computer, right? (clue: right-click on the song title) I’m not going to mention that again for months so you better remember it.  How do you guys like the new, cleaner, simpler look? A friend told me its boring, but I think its refreshing. hehe!

Turn On, Tune In, Drop Out… With Me

I have been in one bad situation after another this year… a lot has happened and so far my 2009 just plain sucks! Thankfully, half of the year is over. My car got broken into two weeks ago, and my backpack got stolen. Inside my bag were my precious laptop (with all my files), two ipods, some cash, and lots of other stuff. Financial drought just brought itself to a new low in my world after that. I am now buried in debt trying to rebuild what was lost and paying for my damaged car. I need to win the lottery! On the brighter side of things, all these has been one huge test on who my real family and friends are… I am lucky to have these people around me. Thank you guys for taking good care of me!

There will be some changes around here by the 31st of July… that’s when this particular version of my blog turns one year old, adding up my total blogging years into three. I will let you know about these changes within the upcoming couple of weeks.

On to the music:

A Fine Frenzy – “Blow Away“ – This is the first single from A Fine Frenzy’s upcoming album called Bomb In a Birdcage. I’m excited coz the previous one, One Cell In The Sea, was superb… I still listen to it even. I’m surprised about how sunny this song is… a stark contrast to the many sad songs on the previous album.

Cracker – “Turn On, Tune In, Drop Out With Me” - Apparently, this band had some success back in the 90’s when alternative music ruled the airwaves… but I can’t seem to remember them. But I do like what I’m hearing from them now with their new album Sunrise In The Land of Milk and Honey. The featured track here is the first single.

Free Energy – “Dream City“ – A friend recommended this song to me. You’ll be hearing more from him around here soon. I can’t find much info about the band online but they do have a myspace page. I love the song!

Imogen Heap – “First Train Home“ – Yes! I’ve been waiting for this for some time now and here it finally is… the first single from Imogen’s upcoming album Ellipse due out on August 25th. Color me excited! This is ear candy coated to perfection.

The Airborne Toxic Event – “Sometime Around Midnight“ – I heard about these guys last year but I totally ignored them. How wrong was I? They actually sound really good! Check out their self-titled debut album.

Cage The Elephant – “Ain’t No Rest For The Wicked“ – I hear Beck in their sound… am I crazy? I’m kinda addicted to this song for some reason.

Jet – “She’s A Genius“ – I loved their debut album. Hopefully the new one, Shaka Rock, sounds closer to it than their sophomore effort did. This is the new single… so far so good. Album out on August 25th. Rock and roll baby!

Sophia – “There Are No Goodbyes“ – From the album of the same name.

Thoughts?

‘Til next time… be nice, be safe!

I Feel Like Takin’ Off!

I just got home from partying… went to two (or three) clubs and danced danced danced. Met some new friends, relived the head-buzzing nights from my vacation last April.

It was five weeks ago that I went to Boracay with a friend to escape the harsh reality of our household situation, which is currently getting worse. Let me just leave it at that so that this won’t turn into yet another emo post. It was a Holy week for the rest of our country but the week I had wasn’t that holy. Three days of soaking in the pristine Boracay waters, strolling on its powdery white sands, hurting my foot with attempts at skimboarding, bathing in the summer heat to sun-kissed goodness… then… three nights of drinking and partying… capped by Marlboro Red Night on black saturday which featured world-renowned DJ’s Pete Tong and Todd Terry in the mix and an unforgettable 11-song setlist from (surprise!) Santogold!!! Yes she was in Boracay, OMG!

It was all so unreal for me because I didn’t expect for the lineup to be that *known* (i use the term lightly here coz most people didn’t know them haha). I mean, we scored free invites via a new friend (thanks Kev!) and the party was ‘invite only’. Was I lucky or what?! Anyway, I originally created this playlist as a summer kick-off mix some weeks ago… but now its almost the end of summer (here where I’m from) haha! So I replaced some of the songs with some less-dancey ones (yup, it was originally a full-on dance clubby playlist) and ended up with this I-don’t-know-what-to-call-this-half-baked-summer-inspired-mix-of-sorts… but its kinda upbeat! Its a combination of new and slightly older songs. (stream via mixpod below or right-click on the links at the bottom and save each file to listen)

Music Playlist at MixPod.com

1. Mr. Hudson feat. Kanye West – “Supernova” +
2. Craig David – “Just My Imagination”
3. Snow Patrol – “If There’s A Rocket Tie Me To It” (Marcus Schossow Remix)
4. Jessica Jarrell – “Armageddon”
5. Kevin Rudolf feat. Kid Cudi – “Welcome To The World”
6. Amerie – “Why R U?”
7. Young Love – “The Picture”
8. Cobra Starship feat. Leighton Meester – “Good Girls Go Bad”
9. Santogold – “L.E.S. Artistes” **
10. Wale feat. Lady Gaga – “Chillin’”
11. Kid Cudi – “Day N Nite” (Krookers Remix)
12. David Guetta ft. Kelly Rowland – “When Love Takes Over” (Original Radio Edit) *
13. Family Force 5 – “How In The World”
14. MGMT – “Kids”
15. Lady GaGa – “Lovegame”
—bonus guilty pleasure tracks—
16. Black Eyed Peas – “Boom Boom Wow” (DJ will.i.am Megamix)
17. Cassie feat. Akon – “Let’s Get Crazy”
18. Paradiso Girls feat. Eve & Lil Jon – “Patron Tequila”
19. Plies feat. Ashanti – “Want It, Need It”

+I’m surprised, Mr.Hudson is white and kinda older than I expected hehe.
**Santogold and her backup singers were so amazing!
*Pete Tong played the extended version of this as his last song during the Marlboro Red event and the crowd went nuts even if they didn’t know the song (I did, though). Must’ve been the piano parts that sound like Coldplay’s “Clocks” haha.

Glad to be back after 48 years of absence. and I just wanna say “Hurrah!” for the Kris/Adam finale on idol! It would have been perfect if it were Adam & Allison but this is the next best thing. Sorry to all the Danny Gokey fans. =p

Marlboro Red Pix taken by Stylesamurai and Don

Tuesday Music Roundup part 1

I’m back people! Delayed by a week or so… I’m slackin’ again sheesh! Anyway, here are a bunch of (mostly new) songs that have come to my attention within the past week or so. These are the ones that are dominating my playlist these days, among others that I’d rather not put up here for now for reasons of consistency. Here we go… (throw some comments my way, alright?)… let’s begin the hodge-podge:

Safetysuit – Someone Like You >>> [buy album here] >>> Safetysuit is a rock band originally from Tulsa, Oklahoma. Then, members Doug Brown, Dave Garafolo, Tate Cunningham, and Jeremy Henshaw decided to move in a new direction by way of relocating to one of America’s best musical hubs… Nashville, Tennessee. It was there that they met Greg Archilla by chance. Greg has recorded with such artists as Matchbox 20 and Collective Soul. They recorded an EP together which gave way to playing shows two or three times a week at various venues around the area from clubs to theaters, helping them to amass a growing fan base. Soon thereafter, record labels took notice of the band and they eventually signed with Universal Records. Deciding to stick with Greg Archilla as producer, recording sessions has produced a powerhouse rock album in the form of Safetysuit’s official major-label debut release Life Left To Go. What initially drew me in to give this band a listen was the fact that they were based out of Nashville… I sorta have a fascination with the place even if I have not been there yet. They remind me of one of my favorite bands, Switchfoot… I guess that’s a good thing. Here is Safetysuit’s first single from their debut (out now!), it’s called “Someone Like You”. [Listen]

Kanye West – Love Lockdown >>> Kanye West closed last week’s MTV VMA’s with this song. I thought it was a great performance, and the song is very good. “Love Lockdown” is a surprising little ditty because Kanye sings throughout the whole song, not a single rap verse in sight. Sure it’s auto-tuned / vocodered (you know, T-Pained? haha) but I give the guy credit, he is a musical genius. Supposedly, it was written just a week-and-a-half prior to his VMA performance. If you listen to the lyrics, it sounds like Kanye’s in a broken-hearted state of loneliness. He probably went through a breakup, I don’t really know I don’t follow showbiz news that much… or it could be about him missing his mom who passed away earlier this year. This leaked by way of his blog last week but I have a feeling this isn’t the final version of the song. We’ll see. His as yet untitled new album drops sometime this December. [Listen]

Snow Patrol – Take Back The City >>> [pre-order new album here] >>> Yup, it’s one of my favorite bands! In six weeks, Snow Patrol’s new album A Hundred Million Suns will be released… something good to look forward to on October 28th. This, their fifth album, was recorded throughout this past summer and was produced by Garret “Jacknife” Lee. The first single, “Take Back The City” premiered last September 2nd on BBC Radio One and finally we have a good quality file of the song for you to enjoy. Of course, you oughtta buy it legally so you could enjoy it in the best quality possible. This is just something to tide you over at least until it is available for purchase. Its a damn good song… one of their trademark up-tempos. [Listen]

Joshua Radin – I’d Rather Be With You >>> [buy album here] >>> Waaaaaaaahhh!!! Finally he released his new album! Joshua Radin put out an EP earlier this year (Unclear Sky) saying that a full new album will be out by May, but it didn’t happen. But yay, new album Simple Times was released digitally last September 9th and will be available physically (CD) in stores on September 30th. The album is excellent, I didn’t expect any less from Mr. Radin who has become one of my all-time favorite artists in such a short span of time ever since I discovered him about two years ago. The sound here is a progression from the hushed production on his previous full-length release We Were Here, which got his sound branded by many people as “whisper rock” hehe. On this one, percussions are used to an appropriate extent, enough to give a slight zing to his unmistakable sound. Go get it, its one of my favorite albums of the year! On a side note, did you see him perform his song “Today” during Ellen DeGeneres’ and Portia De Rossi’s wedding reception? It was just beautiful… perfect. This here is the sweet first single from Simple Times, its called “I’d Rather Be With You”. [Listen]

Donavon Frankenreiter – Come With Me >>> [buy album here] >>> Lookie here, its the sound of extended summer in a box. I’ve been listening to some of Donovan Frankenreiter’s songs ever since I heard “Free” when I was living in Japan (of all places) back in 2004. It was the welcome distraction of laid-back beach-y vibes, which reminded me of home, in a foreign land where I found myself lonely and homesick a lot. I tagged this guy as Jack Johnson lite… they give off the same vibe. No surprise there, Jack Johnson produced Donavon’s debut album, and apparently they’re good friends. Subsequent albums saw Donavon sort of stretch his musical palette by adding in some soul/jazz vibe to his songs but still with the same old framework that started on his debut. On his fourth album, Pass It Around, Donovan follows the same path… its not tired yet so I don’t mind. This is one of the tracks off of the CD, it’s called “Come With Me”. [Listen]

Taylor Swift – Love Story >>> [pre-order new album here] >>> Taylor Swift sure has come a long way from two years ago. Back then I thought she was a he, I thought ‘his’ debut single “Tim McGraw” was one of those one-hit-wonder type gimmick songs… until I heard it. After the realization that the song was good (from my point of view) and that her album was chock full of nice songs, I didn’t have any doubt that she would make it big in the country scene. Little did I know, she would exceed my expectations… she has become a bonafide superstar, rivaling Carrie Underwood in her level of success, crossing over to mainstream radio occasionally with her songs. She has a nice spunky personality too, based from what I’ve seen of her myspace videos. Her new album, Fearless, is set to be released November 11th. This is her first single off of that, a nice-to-listen-to pop/country fluff record hehe. The lyrics… well… you decide for yourself if you like it or not. Some people find the lyrics a little annoying, I find it tolerable but not great. I like her still though. [Listen]

Shane Mack – Lie To Me >>> The beauty of running a music blog, in my opinion, is finding people who have similar tastes in music as you. Occasionally, they even send you songs through e-mail… which I appreciate a lot . Now, here’s one that showed up recently in my mailbox and I just fell in love with it. I don’t know who Shane Mack is, but I checked out his myspace and his songs were quite good. I initially thought it was a girl singing this song, you’d probably think the same thing when you hear this. But no, Shane’s a guy haha. Great song!!! [Listen]

to be continued later today…

if you don’t recognize the artist, just give the song a chance… it just might surprise you

The Search for Dong Juan

So we’ve been hearing about this little nook for the past couple of weeks. Friends, officemates and a feature in the newspaper’s lifestyle section have all name-dropped it indicating that we should try it out sometime. Supposedly the place has a nice homey rugged-minimalistic ambiance and could only seat a limited number of people (around 20-25) at its fullest capacity. People were buzzing about it having good food at wallet-friendly prices. Then came Friday night of 08-08-08… my friends (Jeff, Grace and Jon) and I were looking for some place to have dinner at and after much ballyhoo, we decided to look for this not-so-easy-to-find nook. After driving for about twenty minutes from Ayala Center Cebu to the Guadalupe/Andres Abellana area, voila… lookie what we found:

Dong Juan is located in Emilio Osmena Street, Cebu City (Philippines)… if you’re Cebuano and you don’t know where that is, just drive (or pass) slowly going to Banawa coming in from Capitol. Emilio Osmena St. is the 2nd or 3rd corner to the right (after Andres Abellana St.). I know I suck with directions so here’s a sketch i borrowed (ok, stole) from istorya.net: (”Guadakupe” is actually Guadalupe, ok?)

We ordered all-meat pizza (thin crust) which was delish in my book. Also calamari, pork steak, baby back ribs and linguini meatballs… as well as lemon iced tea to go with all the food. Check out our selection, and to think one of us was a vegetarian (hint: not me). Overall I liked what we had… I’ll be sure to go back there to try out the other stuff on their menu. The glass bottle for their iced tea was a nice touch. Check out a real review of the place and the food from the local newspaper Sunstar Cebu [here].

That’s about all the pictures I’m willing to share right now. Just trying out something new… attempt #1 to review a restaurant… I failed haha. And here we were thinking about starting a food blog. Anyway, just wanted to say that I liked this place… low-key and relaxed atmosphere with good food. I prefer these kinds of places over the more commercial and flashy ones. Recommended!