Song of the Moment XCIV: The Cranberries’ “Zombie”

I felt a bit anxious today, a Sunday, so I attended Mass on my own and I went to my favorite cafe to relax. I ordered the usual (and comforting) affogato and continued reading The Storyteller: Tales of Life and Music, a book by my hero Dave Grohl. (Yes, I did say “my hero”, a reference to the Foo Fighters classic! Also, this is my second time reading the book, and I’m about to finish it by tomorrow.)

And for once, while I was reading, I didn’t listen to music through my phone. Tonight, I relied on the cafe’s vinyl player, and it played many songs from The Cranberries. The song that stood out for me is the iconic “Zombie”. It has been a long time since I heard “Zombie”, and hearing it brought me back to the time when cassette tapes were the norm and when the only source of stress for me was homework. Memories. And that’s why it’s my Song of the Moment.

The music video of The Cranberries’ “Zombie”.

Anyway, tomorrow is September 1. That means it’s the start of Christmas season in the Philippines. Exciting times!

See you in the next post!

Ω


Header image: Suzy Hazelwood of Pexels. Edited in Adobe Photoshop 2025.

Updated on September 3, 2025.

Song of the Moment XCIII: Daft Punk’s “Around the World”

The past few days at work have been a challenge for me because I was assigned a task that is beyond my familiar responsibilities. But there’s one thing I’m grateful for because of said task: I learned new things. Beyond the stress, there’s growth.

Anyway, when it comes to choices I made this week, I’m glad I chose to listen less to my favorite Maroon 5 song (and the most heartbreaking, in my opinion), “Back at Your Door”, and more to one of my favorite electronic dance tunes, “Around the World” by the legendary Daft Punk. And tonight, I choose to make it my Song of the Moment.

According to my weekly music stats from Last.fm, I listened to “Around the World” 20+ times so far. Why not? It’s such an amazingly hypnotic song to dance to. In fact, when I ran my only errand today, I was listening to it, and I was tempted to bust a move on the street. When I arrived home, I played it several more times, and that’s when I busted a few moves inspired by the robots, skeletons, and the tall guys in tracksuits in the music video. (You can watch the video below.)

And no one in my family complained about hearing the song’s only lyric (which is the song title) 144 times per play. Yet.

The music video of Daft Punk’s “Around the World”.

Now I’m going to drink The Devil’s Cup and listen to “Around the World” on repeat tonight. See you in the next post, and happiest weekend, everyone!

Ω


Header image: Image of Earth by WikiImages of Pixabay. Image of stars by Hans of Pixabay. Edited in Adobe Photoshop 2025.

XXXIV: The Hulk Hogan Question My Grandfather Frequently Asked

Usually, I would watch WWE alone, and I’m cool with it. Yes, I eventually found a few friends who watch WWE or pro wrestling in general (casual or a die-hard fan like me), but I also accepted a long time ago that pro wrestling is not everyone’s cup of tea.

Whenever I do watch pro wrestling with other people, it’s even better. One of my bonding moments with my Father would be watching clips of WWE (old or new) on YouTube. Sometimes, my Younger Brother (the Kane to my Undertaker) would watch with me, too. Recently, when I was watching the recent edition of Saturday Night’s Main Event, my Younger Brother was surprised to see Goldberg in action. (I told him it was his retirement match, and he was battling Gunther for the World Heavyweight Championship.)

But whenever I watch WWE with my lolo (Tagalog for “grandfather”), Lolo Ice, it’s a different situation—primarily because he doesn’t know it’s scripted, predetermined. If I did bring up the scripted fact to him, he would forget it, and he would still cheer for the faces (heroes) and jeer for the heels (villains)… and I love him for that. I can just enjoy watching the matches and moments with my lolo without analyzing them. This is why I called him my wrestling buddy.

And of all the times Lolo Ice and I watched any wrestling match or moment, he would always bring up one question about an important figure in pro wrestling, and I would always answer the same way.

Continue reading XXXIV: The Hulk Hogan Question My Grandfather Frequently Asked