BOUNCE WITH ME

After my first taste of on-air bliss, a part of me wanted to be a DJ. Life took me down another road and I got into advertising after graduation. A few months later, my good buddy Ganns beat me to the punch and got his own show on-air with LA 105.9. Granted, it was a crappy station (sorry Ganns) in a crappy building (Philcomcen) but I was jealous as heck. He was living my dream. I used to visit him in the booth and wish that it was me.

Then one day, God saw fit to give me my chance.

I had just left advertising to recharge my batteries and see if I could make more money as a freelancer. It was a Friday night and I was on my way home from a wedding reception I attended in Makati. I tuned in to Magic 89.9 and caught their new wave weekend show. I then heard a familiar voice and remembered that one of my high school friends was a regular guest on the program. I called him up and he invited me over.

I entered the booth and my friend introduced me to Max Speed, the program director of Magic 89.9 and the host of the new wave weekend show. He put me on air and we chatted a little bit. I even got to introduce a song. Then, when the show ended, he asked me back.

That second guesting led to me becoming a regular on the show. I wasn't getting paid but I was getting to live my DJ dream, if only for 3 hours a week. This went on for months then my dream went kaput when the powers-that-be cancelled the show.

I asked if there was a way I could get a full-time slot with the station but Max told me that they already had two DJs-in-training lined up and that there was no place for me.

Or so I thought.

To be continued.

Posted by Jay at 11:11 AM | Permalink | Comments

It all started Monday. My eyes just started clouding over during our weekly status meeting. Then it started itching. Then my eyes turned bloodshot red. I went to Makati Med to have it confirmed and I had to report the news to my boss.

I had sore eyes.

Of course, he promptly sent me home. No sense in me infecting the entire agency.

I spent the next day in bed. No TV. No DVDs. No PS2. No human contact. The itching had subsided the next day so I went back to work. My boss thought otherwise and told me to take another day off.

Another day. No TV. No DVDs. No PS2. No human contact.

It's worse than prison, I tell ya.

Posted by Jay at 11:11 AM | Permalink | Comments

"Hi, what's your name and what are you wearing?"

That used to be my usual greeting whenever someone would call the station during my DJ days. I got to thinking about that stage in my life last Thursday, when I caught a cab to QC for a dinner appointment. The cabbie was listening to 99.5 RT (I know, I was surprised myself) and they had this show on about cars. They'd usually field questions from listeners and they had one particular caller who cracked me up.

The DJ put the listener on air and asked him for his question. The guy even asked if they wanted a long question or a short one. He was answered with "Any question will do," so he then starts asking what to do if a girl he liked didn't feel the same way back.
It was so hilarious, even the taxi driver was laughing his head off.

I guess you had to be there.

Anyway, it got me reminiscing about my days as Jay Bounce of Magic 89.9. It actually got me thinking what were my favorite radio moments. Thought I'd list them here for posterity's sake. Plus, my memory's not what it used to be.

1. FIRST TIME ON AIR
The first time I went live on air was in college. I had an assignment for Ruey de Vera's Feature Writing class so I chose to do a day in the life of then RX Monster Jock Bruce Romano (Ferdie Verayo in real life). He was a teacher by day and a DJ by night and I felt that was a compelling topic. So, I headed off to Strata 1000 at 2 in the morning to sit in on Bruce's shift and pander him with questions. Finally, at about 5:12 AM, Bruce asked me if I wanted to go on air. I said yes and he introduced me to the audience. We chit-chatted a bit then he asked me to introduce a song. I asked him to play Tulog by South Border because that's what I was hoping to do right after. He played it and I closed it out with a "Keep it here on the first creative pop station, Monster Radio RX 93.1."

I was thrilled beyond belief and I was hooked. I knew someday, I would end up behind the mic. And I did and the rest is history.

A history I'll get into in a later chapter. This entry is long enough as it is.

Posted by Jay at 11:09 AM | Permalink | Comments

It was quite appropriate that the date 6/6/06 fell on this week, because me and the other creatives went through hell. Half the team had to come in on Sunday and they worked straight on till 4pm the next day. What followed were days filled with one-day wonders (briefing, brainstorming and execution all squeezed into one day) and nights that stretched way too long. I'm just glad that the three day weekend is coming up.

***

Missed another episode of My Name is Earl on JackTV. I'll probably catch the replay but with all the work we're doing, a little bit of the show's quirky humor would be a welcome reprieve.

The show revolves around Earl, a small-town criminal who won $100,000 and got hit by a car afterwards. He then realized that he needs to balance the scales of karma and make up for all the wrong things he had done in the past in order for good things to happen. The series stars Jason Lee, a regular in Kevin Smith's films (He appeared in Mallrats, Chasing Amy and Jay and Silent Bob strike back) as the karmically-challenged Earl. He plays white trash very well and his comic timing is impeccable. Other characters of note are Ethan Suplee as Earl's bumbling sidekick and Jamie Pressley as Earl's vindictive ex-wife.

Maybe I'll be able to catch the replay this weekend. You should too.

Posted by Jay at 11:27 AM | Permalink | Comments

Twice now. Twice that a gun has gone off while I was nearby.

The first incident happened as I was waiting for my flight back from Boracay. I stepped out of the airport for a smoke. I was standing by the exit which was right beside the place where the guards check your ticket and ID before entering. After some puffs, I decided to sit my ass down on a nearby row of seats. Good thing I did because a few minutes later, as another passenger was checking in his firearm with the guard, the gun went off and the bullet hit the place I had been standing in just a few minutes earlier.

Fast forward to a week later, I was heading back upstairs from a smoking break and just re-entered the building. I walked through the back entrance and saw a delivery man chatting it up with the building security. He seemed to be pretty chummy with them I remember thinking. As I turned the corner towards the elevators, a shot rang out and the sound just reverberated throughout the entire ground floor. I went running into a nearby elevator whose doors just opened. It seems that while the messenger was checking in his piece with the guards, it went off and struck the marble floor and ricocheted.

God must not want me to smoke.

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Anyway, onto more pressing things, we are in need of Art Directors here in 141. Senior/ACD level. If you guys know anyone, could you ask your friends to send their resume over to jay.tan@141worldwide.com? Thanks!

Posted by Jay at 3:14 PM | Permalink | Comments