Crazy planets co-exist in Lourd de Veyra’s world

Lourd de Veyra is right about many things—why people should stop saying “text-text" or what makes a “tunay na lalaki" are among them. But when it comes to assessing his own stardom, he is spot wrong. He thinks he’s on his way to irrelevance. In true Lourd fashion, however, there is irony in his statement. He talks about the volatility of fame on the night “The Best of This Is A Crazy Planets," a collection of his best essays from his popular blog on Spot.ph, is launched.

Inside the hip, noisy and always-too-crowded Route 196 along Katipunan Avenue, Lourd says he never thinks about the fame and notoriety his blog has brought him. “They’ll forget about it," he says. “It’s fleeting, it’s transitory," adds the four-time Palanca Award winner. But the essayist, TV show host and musician is anything but irrelevant. Route 196 is even more crowded than usual on a Thursday night for Lourd’s book launch despite the delubyo that is tropical storm “Falcon." Anything but the nose The blog takes its name from a suicide note supposedly written by ‘80s bold star Stella Strada. The actress presumably meant the Filipino expression “baliw na mundo," but ended up with the confusing and grammatically unsound “This is a crazy planets." “Hindi ba nakapaka-tragic? Mamamatay ka na nga lang, wrong grammar ka pa," Lourd says. Meaningless (or meaningful) blog name aside, “This Is A Crazy Planets" easily caught the attention of Pinoy netizens. Lourd says some fight in the comments section of his entries and he doesn’t mind—as long as they don’t diss the hair and nose. “Sensitive ako sa ganon eh. Nasasaktan ako eh," he adds, poker-faced. If the comments aren’t proof enough of how popular the blog is, the Facebook shares and the Tweets might convince you. Lourd, after all, talks about everything under the sun—the Filipino fascination for the Pacquiaos (“Keeping Up with the Pacquiaos") and Kris Aquino (“The Unbearable Heaviness of Being ‘K'"), the demise of a Filipino OPM institution (“Eulogy for NU 107: There is a light that never goes out") and things that annoy him (“10 Stupid Expressions That Must Die Soon" and “Umasal Lamang ng Ayon sa Ganda"). Crazy Planets The 118-page book will leave you in stitches. Unlike most writers who claim to put the interests of their audience ahead of themselves, Lourd says he thinks of himself first when writing. “Kasi kung walang epekto sa buhay ko, wala akong pakialam," he says. Right after a structured rant on why “Elow po" and “Nownah" need to be banished into oblivion, he jumps into a more serious topic—the Philippine Senate, Bong Revilla and the Hayden Kho-Katrina Halili sex scandal. It’s Lourd’s ability to switch from mundane to serious topics and from English to Filipino that has endeared him to readers, both online and offline. In one of the five Filipino essays in the book, Lourd talks about “[mga] taong hindi umaasal nang ayon sa kanyang kagandahan." It’s the essay he chose to read during the book launch, and one of his most successful blog posts yet. In the piece, he takes jabs at people who have contrived accents and insist on waging war against aging. He also takes a jab at presidential aide Mai Mislang’s Twitter faux pax during a visit to Vietnam. “At kahit na may training ka sa oenology, ‘wag manglait ng wine ng ibang tao—lalo na’t pinapasuweldo ka ng taong bayan," says Lourd. Aside from published pieces, three new essays from Lourd are included in the book. Most of the time, Lourd talks about himself—his high regard of '70s star Rico J. Puno and his interest in Kris Aquino (“Mundo niya to, umiikot lang tayo dito," he says -matter-of-factly) are a few of his more self-gratuitous ventures—but he does it in a way that isn’t self-indulgent. His views and his thoughts, it turns out, are the same ones we have, only we don’t have the guts to post them online. (To which Lourd says, “Bakit naman? Kahit sino naman pwede sabihin yun eh.") Powered by energy drinks The book isn’t Lourd’s first. To date, he has published three poetry books and will be releasing a novel next month about “drugs and rock ‘n roll." “Medyo seryosong literary s--t naman ito," he says. In case you’ve lost track of Lourd’s credentials, here’s a recap: blogger/essayist/ poet/novelist. He’s also Radioactive Sago Project’s front man and host of several AksyonTV shows. Lourd embodies, in a way, Generation Y’s penchant for being a lot of things at the same time. However, unlike most, Lourd does what he does well. How does this “slasher" do it? Spot editor-in-chief Myrza Sison doesn’t know. “He does so many things, but he manages to find time to write regularly," she says. The essay “Fix Me," offers a clue: a can of a “nasty Thai energy drink" for that much needed caffeine boost. Could this be the secret to his genius? In a world of slashers and short attention spans, Lourd says the basics are the most important. “Work ethic," he says, not laughing or smiling this time. “There’s a lot of work involved, craft-wise. The idea of wit is not earned in an instant—it’s a lot of work," says the University of Santo Tomas journalism graduate. He points out, for instance, the beauty in interviewing without voice recorders—writing is more organic, more natural, he says. It came in handy when he spent a whole afternoon with comedian great Dolphy. “It was a few days after Panchito died. So he was ruminating on death, morality—naglalabas siya," Lourd recalls. That interview earned him an award from the Philippine Free Press. But it’s poetry that got him into the whole business of writing, and it's also how Radioactive Sago Project came about. In the beginning, the band existed to create background music for his poetry reading. By 1999, it became was a formal band and by 2004, it hit mainstream success via their single, “Astro." “The best boy band in the world," says Lourd jokingly.. Lourd-ing it The 36-year-old has already done a lot, but he’s still looking to do even more things (and win more Palancas, maybe?). In the next few months, he might accept a teaching job in one of the country’s top universities. He also plans to publish another novel. As the night’s formalities end and Radioactive Sago Project prepares to perform, it’s my turn to return to the world of news. Before leaving, I ask Lourd to sign my copy of the book. “For GMA News Online," I say. He flashes a playful smile. “Pwede ko bang sabihin, ‘Mabuhay kayo… at TV5 rin?’" He reconsiders his message for a second and finally scribbles down, “For GMA News Online—Mabuhay Kayo! Saka kami na rin. Hehe." – YA, GMA News