Showing Off and Such...

I am damning Facebook to the fiery pits of fictional hell for keeping me away from my blog for so long! I am hooked and I am ashamed...but I am also in contact w/ myriads of people I haven't talked to in FOREVER and not only in contact...but in CONSTANT touch. Wierd.

Anyway, I stopped doing my American Idol rundown because I am on 'outs' with the judges for letting Jorge Nunez go. Do I care who wins now? Not a fig. But yes, I'll watch and continue to be entertained by that wierdo, Adam Lambert. His 'Ring of Fire' last week was cooooo. And also a bit disturbing.

On a happy note, I just received my new bag from my favorite little company, Dungaree Dolly's. I ordered a messenger bag from her a couple of years ago and LOVED it, as some of you might remember. Then I ordered a few little things from her and loved all of them too. So I saved up and bought myself a new everyday bag from her vinyl collection. Here I am unashamedly showing it off:





Jonathan touched up the lettering a little to bring out the red. The lining is pink tattoo print...darling! Did I mention that I love this purse? haha.

The Oddest Things Move Me...

Since I remember distinctly the moment the Wiggles made their fateful appearance on Playhouse Disney, it seemed disrespecful not to be affected at least a little by Greg Page's departure. Looking for a Bear In the Big Blue House clip today on Youtube, I came accross this little 'tribute' that someone put together in honor of the original Yellow Wiggle. Maybe it's the knowledge that Greg left under sad circumstances (health reasons wouldnt permit him to continue performing) or the fact that the video is set to Coldplay's 'Yellow', but I got a little choked up.

Only a mommy who has watched all her babies dance to those obnoxiously perky tunes would understand.

American Idol Weekly Rundown (Top 13)

Kinda sad that I have little else to blog about than mundane reality talent shows.

Anyhoo.

Last night was the first 'live' competition between the 13 finalists. And the theme was (gag me...) Michael Jackson songs! Needless to say, I am less than enthused. Since our CO was in town this week, we had a meeting last night so I'm posting this one in 'real time'...here's my take:

Best of the Night:
1.
Alexis Grace-'Dirty Diana' was such a sexy awesome song to sing. I thought she (to use an overused expression) KILLED it!

The Good:
(in no particular order)

2.Jorge Nunez-I liked the John Secada-style take on this song. It was a little slower than the original. I absolutely love his voice...and I want to hear him sing in Spanish again...SOON!

3.Alison Ireheta-Great song choice! I love that she chose a lesser known song and made it sound like an original...what a voice!


4.Adam Lambert-this was fun! Again, it was cheesy but gosh, this guy has such an amazing set of pipes!

5.Kris Allen-Definitely better w/ his guitar. Not a fan of the song 'Remember The Time' but Kris sounded good, nonetheless.

6.Lil Rounds-A good choice. 'The Way You Make Me Feel' is a good mood song and other than some strange lyrical changes, she handled it with class.

7.Megan Corkrey-Not the song I wouldnt guessed but I liked it alot! She made it sound kinda cool...'Rockin Robin'-sixties Brit-Pop Style!

8.Matt Giraud- Pretty but too reminiscent of a million other artists, including Justin Timberlake. Human Nature was a good choice though....it was smoooothe.

9. Danny Gokey- He's got a great voice and he's a great entertainer. There is still something about that seems a bit 'formulaic' so I'll have to see if he can do something surprising.

The Bad:
10.Jasmine Murray-She sang it well but oh my gosh, I was bored to tears. I also could tell how young she was...compared w/ Alison, she's like a kid.

11.Scott MacIntyre-Didnt care for it. So earnest...and cheesy. Hated the song..he sang it alright but it was still a very lackluster performance.


The Ugly:

12.Michael Sarver-Again, another good singer who bored me to tears. 'You Are Not Alone' is an arm waving, lighter waving sentimental annoyance that the world could do w/out.

13.Anoop Desai-he's got a good voice and he's meant for pop but if he has just takent eh Michael Jackson-isms out of his performance, 'Beat It' wouldnt have been such a horrid choice.

The American Idol Weekly Rundown

The best group of 12 so far.

The Best:

1.Jorge Nunez- I was a big ol' fan when this guy auditioned. His spanish song was so beautiful, it gave me chills. Last night he sang 'Don't Let the Sun Go Down On Me' and it was just great. I think this guy may have the best voice I've heard on the show. I'd rather hear him sing in Spanish, ultimately, but he was far and away my favorite of the night.

The Good:
2.Von Smith- A little 'show choir' for me but he sounded great and he deserves to go on...as long as it's not in place of Jorge.

3.Junot Joyner- It was so pretty! Soothing and sweet. Far and away a better delivery of that melody and those lyrics than the Plain White Tees, imo. I loved it.

4.Felicia Barton-There's no doubt she has a great voice. I'm not a fan of allthe Alicia Keyes covers but she sang the heck outta this one. I think she'll go thru easily.

5.Lil Rounds- I'm a sucker for a Tennessee native, especially when she's as cute as this one. However, great performance or no, I hated the song. I didnt think it showed people who aren't fans of modern r & b what she was capable of...so for that, she drops behind Felicia Barton for the position of best female.

6.Kristen McNamara-She has a good range and she showed her personality, I thought. But she was a little forgettable, especially in that dress-which didnt seem like a performance outfit at all. I also kind of got the idea that she's performed that same song in her karaoke gig many times. It wasnt bad though.

7.Scott MacIntyre- I don't care much for Bruce Hornsby and Mandolin Rain is my least favorite of his songs. So I wasnt going into this w/ much optimism. That said, he was surprisingly good w/out his pianny and I loved his jab at Ryan's air-high five from the auditions. Blind or not, he can sing-though I still don't think he is good enough for top twelve.

8.Taylor Vaifanua-She hit all the notes, from what I could tell. Her voice is impressive but yeah, she doesnt really show much personality and she seems alot older seventeen. I still thought it was a good performance.

The Bad:

9.Kendall Beard-The token 'country' artist of the bunch is just that-token. Not much to her at all. And I can't say tackling Martina McBrides 'ode to menstruation' was a good idea.

10.Nathaniel Marshall- I wouldnt have minded the Meatloaf song choice if he'd sung it in THAT key. But since he sang it several keys lower than the original, it was just not very good. Also, the eighties dancing was beyond goofy.

The Ugly:

11.Arianna Afsar-It's a shame because if she sang it straight-there was hope. I'm not sure what she was thinking w/ all those changes to an Abba song.

12.Alex Wagner-Trugman-What the heck?? I've never seen anybody over do it like this kid. Almost like he was trying to play up the comedy like Nick Mitchell (Norman Gentle). Not sure what he was thinking but it was a train wreck. Too bad, because he started off pretty nicely.

Wildcard Rundown: Best show so far!! Based on the stiff competition, my choices to go thru were Jessie Langseth, Matt Giraud, and Megan Corkerey but the judges decided to throw us for a loop and let four thru. Though I don't agree w/ their choice in Jasmine Murray, it still makes a pretty good group

Shiny Happy Statistics

5,600 new publishers a week. That is the equivelent to the entire worldwide brotherhood in 1914.

1.5 billion hours a year. That is the equivelent to one person preaching nonstop, 24 hours a day for 175,000 years.

Beautiful, no?