This is a bit wider of a connection. Muscles doesn't know what being subtle means. Muscles knows what he wants when he wants it. Also, when Muscles has a party everybody is invited. I can't say the same about the Thompson Twins. In a decade built on excess and production, their music actually pales in comparison to Muscles'. But one thing hits me. It's the voice(s). Both are technically poor voices. Tom Baily (TTs) is not classically trained how to sing a tune and his voice wails like Muscles. Now I am not saying they are off key and odds are the vocal range is deliberate (otherwise yikes!). Either way, I love Muscles and Thompson Twins. You can dance to both the tracks (if you do, god bless you). Enough of the talk, lets bust this popsicle stand!

Muscles - The Lake

Thompson Twins - In The Name of Love

Bonus! Muscles before he was the Muscles. This song is bad, but if your desperate for some new material (and by new I mean old)

Muscles - Spirits

In the alternative, you could have your morning cup of coffee at the bus stop with them and spend a few minutes chatting about their day and what they plan to learn in school as you sip your cup of Joe and breathe in the morning air to mentally prepare for your own day ahead. If you normally exercise in the morning and leave the house very early, switch your workout time to lunch and leave the office to go to the gym, eating at your desk when you get back. You will have more time with your family each day and get a healthy break from your pile of papers to boot.You may need to get a little creative with your schedule, but there are definitely ways to help balance career and family. Sometimes an extra few minutes each day or a once-weekly good block of time can go a long way in helping restore your peace of mind and help you feel less harried.

.

O filme do U2 em três dimensões chega finalmente ao Brasil em 29 de agosto, mas apenas em sete salas. No Rio será no Cinemark do Downtown na Barra, onde assisti na quinta de manhã, no UCI do Norte Shopping e no UCI do New York City Center. É uma experiência de tirar o fôlego em termos de imagem e só não foi em termos de som porque tinha uma caixa do lado esquerdo totalmente bichada. Como o principal atrativo no caso era a imagem passou. O som é igual ao do show, só falta mais volume, mas a clareza do 5.1 é excepcional e a mixagem joga os instrumentos para os diversos lados da sala conforme os músicos se movimentam.

Vi os dois shows dessa turnê "Vertigo" em  São Paulo e vê-lo na tela com altura-largura-profundidade é uma experiência superior a ver ao vivo. As 18 câmeras de 3D utilizadas pelos diretores Catherine Owens e Mark Pellington nos levam para dentro do estádio e do palco com uma clareza de detalhes que não se tem no local e muito menos com o filme em duas dimensões. No começo quando a grua vem de trás rumo à bateria de Larry Mullen Jr. tem-se a sensação de que a bateria está na nossa frente. A banda entra, estamos no palco, Bono conta "uno, dos três, catorze" para desencadear ''Vertigo'' e a sensação é de estar a um metro dele. Em muitos momentos sua imagem é destacada bem na frente e bem grande, quando ele estende a mão tem-se a sensação de que se pode estender a nossa e cumprimentá-lo.

Quando as câmeras acompanham os músicos pela passarela vemos a platéia com grande detalhamento, as expressões de encantamento pela proximidade dos ídolos. Há tomadas feitas do meio da platéia em que as pessoas levantam os braços na nossa frente, teve uma vez que dois dedos em "V" surgiram de repente na minha cara. Nas tomadas de longe a sensação de profundidade é muito realista.

As gruas permitem que a gente veja os músicos em planos únicos, sem cortes, com grande efeito, especialmente quando Edge está ao piano em "Miss Sarajevo" e sobre a bateria de Larry. O mesmo acontece com Adam Clayton, projetado em nossa direção várias vezes como se a ponta do baixo fosse bater na nossa cara e as imagens de The Edge permitem ver em detalhes como ele trabalha as músicas.

.

.

A maior parte do filme é o show da Argentina. Na parte em que Bono fala os nomes dos países da América Latina, a citação do Brasil merece uma ruidosa gritaria de aprovação, ao contrário do que aconteceu em São Paulo, quando a menção da Argentina provocou uma imensa vaia que deixou o vocalista sem entender nada.

São 84 minutos que passam muito rápido. Oito concertos foram filmados na América Latina com tomadas específicas em cada um: planos médios no México, planos abertos em São Paulo, o show todo em Buenos Aires. E algumas tomadas de platéia na Austrália. O longa usa a tecnologia da empresa 3ality Digital que usa nove pares de câmeras, uma para o olho direito, outra para o olho esquerdo e a montagem permite que o cérebro processe a imagem como faz com qualquer coisa que a gente vê.

U2 3D é o primeiro filme de um show em três dimensões e muitos certamente virão. Me ocorreu logo que ''Shine a light'', dos Rolling Stones, em 3D seria o máximo pelos super closes que Martin Scorsese registrou. Hollywood também está investindo no 3D. “Shrek 4” será neste formato e George Lucas lança em 2009 o primeiro “Guerra nas Estrelas” em 3D e promete um por ano na seqüência. A única coisa que pode retardar a disseminação do 3D é a escassez de salas, só 1.200 no mundo, apenas nove no Brasil (duas no Rio, seis em São Paulo, capital e interior, e uma em Florianópolis e outras a caminho). Em cartaz atualmente, "Viagem ao centro da Terra", que a crítica do Globo Online, Bianca Kleinpaul, diz que só vale pela experiência em 3D. Em duas dimensões nem pensar.

.

O setlist de U2 3D é:

"Vertigo"
"Beautiful day"

"New year's day"

"Sometimes you can't make it on your own"

"Love and peace or else"

"Sunday bloody sunday"

"Bullet the blue sky"

"Miss Sarajevo"  - Leitura da Declaração Universal dos Direitos Humanos

"Pride (In the name of love)"

"Where the streets have no name"

"One"

Bis
"The fly"

"With or without You"

Nos créditos

"Yahweh"

.

P.S. As outras salas são no Market Place, Eldorado e UCI Jardim Sul em São Paulo e no Floripa Shopping em Florianópolis.

.

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Criança 44

"Dr. Robert" The Beatles

"Is This Love" Bob Marley

She looked up at him and nodded. “I know….” she stated plainly and thoughtfully. “I just…I can’t believe he’d sink so low as to threaten me.”

“I can’t believe that he was smart enough to figure out that you’d be staying with me,” Michael commented light-hearted. She cracked a small smile. That was all he wanted, to make her smile.

Her reserve was quite obvious. She looked at him, opened her mouth and then turned away. She had been on the verge of speaking.

“Mandy, please…talk to me,” Michael pleaded earnestly. She flinched visibly as he spoke. “Mandy please.”

“I’m scared Michael.”

His breath catching when he saw the vulnerability in her eyes, he inhaled. He stepped briskly to her, and wrapped his arms around her. “Oh Mandy,” he whispered. “I’m sorry…I…could kill him.”

“No,” she said.

]]> http://shinigamii.wordpress.com/?p=33 Sun, 06 Jul 2008 07:57:46 +0000 shinigamii http://shinigamii.es.wordpress.com/2008/07/06/you-tamed-me/ *

I,
I will be king.

I
     Replenished the waters of the world
     When the Earth threatened to dry-up.

I

    Walked through hell and back
     To stop the demons from waging war.

I

     Held up the sky on my shoulders
     Because you said it would fall.

I

    Grabbed handfuls of dirt and built cities
   So that others could sleep peacefully at night.

I

     Risked everything: when you said, ‘Jump.’
     I said, ‘How high?’

Through _hardship and ^sorrow
I worked my way
I rose past even Heaven
And surely did I become king.
You are name in the dust,
    an e c h o in the wind.
I brought the world to its knees

            You,

What did you do?

© Sadiya 06-24-08

The album title is To Love (Jiang Ai 將愛, Sony, Nov 2003). Here's a list of the first ten tracks, which are all in Mandarin. Each is linked to a video.

1. To Love (Jiang Ai 將愛, written & composed by Faye)
2. Empty City (Kong Cheng 空城)
3. No Staying (Bu Liu 不留, written & composed by Faye)
4. A Beautiful Mistake (Mei Cuo 美錯)
5. Passenger (Cheng Ke 乘客)
6. Sunflower (Yang Bao 陽寶, written & composed by Faye)
7. Merry-Go-Round (Xuan Mu 旋木)
8. April Snow (Si Yue Xue 四月雪, composed by Faye)
9. Make Up (Ye Zhuang 夜妝)
10. Smoke (Yan 姻)

Each image is from one of the MVs, in track order.

If you're new to Faye's music and don't have this album, I'd suggest focusing on listening in the first go around, rather than watching the video. The visuals are eye-catching and may be distracting if you want to get a feel for the full richness of her voice.

Many don't realize the extent to which Faye is involved in the creation and development of her albums. For example, she wrote and composed three of the songs: "To Love," "No Staying," and "Sunflower." And she composed a fourth, "April Snow." Also, for the first time, she co-produced the entire album. The result is stunning. Every track is a masterpiece, unique yet an integral part of the whole. The opening drums in the title track will absolutely blow you away. And from there on in, to the very last track, you'll be in for the ride of your life. In future articles, I'll get into some of the songs, but for now, I'll leave it to you to enjoy and appreciate.

The ultimate test for an exceptional album or any great work of art is staying power. You don't ever get tired of listening to it, and every time you do, you discover something new, something you'd missed or overlooked. This is the way it is with Faye's albums, they never get old, and that's the way it is with To Love. After five years, there's really nothing in the pop music landscape -- in China or the world -- that comes even close to rivaling what Faye has accomplished in this album. (And the same could be said for her other albums as well.) The creativity, the beauty, are unrivaled. And, I might add, this is the way it is with Faye herself. Her photos, films, MVs, and live appearances all have a quality that's not unlike Mona Lisa's smile, a mysterious depth that fascinates without end.

Closing notes: I couldn't find MVs for the last three tracks, which were in Cantonese: "MV," composed by her ex-boyfriend Nic Tse (Xie Tingfeng 谢霆锋), "In the Name of Love" (Cantonese version of "Jiang Ai"), and "Withered Flower" (Cantonese version of "Passenger"). My guess is that they were never made into MVs. "MV" is an especially beautiful song that spotlights Faye's ability to use her voice as an instrument, and this song is an intricate dance between her voice and the other instruments.

The sound quality in these MVs is quite good and fine for normal listening. However, to get a feel for the beauty and quality of Faye's music, you really need to get your hands on original-release CDs. New ones are hard to come by. Even this, her latest, is rarely available in new condition. Used copies come up once in a while in online sites such as Amazon, eBay, etc. The next alternative is re-released versions, and these are readily available at reasonable prices. Often, the quality "seems" better because of re-engineering made possible by advances in technology, but the changes may alter the sounds a bit, and for purists, this may not be acceptable.

Needless to say, the sound quality will also depend heavily on your listening equipment. The better your equipment, the greater your enjoyment. My favorite mode is via headphones, in this lineup: CD tracks ripped losslessly onto my hard drive > Foobar2000 audio player > USB > HeadRoom Desktop balanced headphone DAC/amplifier > balanced Sennheiser HD650 heaphones.

This is a fantastic song - Bono is great and the production is awesome.

On the night of her wedding Subbalakshmi (Poonam Bajwa) elopes with her lover. Her incensed father Neelakanta (Prakash Raj) - who is a strong village henchman rounds up her lover's friends and confines them to some kind of a dungeon until they trace the runaway couple. Krishna (Allu Arjun) is one of them and later turns out to be the guy who happened to have played an important part in the elopement. During his stay there, he ends up falling in love with Neelakanta's other daughter Meena (Sheila). Now Krishna has to handle these twin troubles.

The first half moves at a breezy pace with the usual banter involving the hero and his gang of friends. At this point of time you are pretty much convinced that what you'll get later is also some more of this stuff and if you still had Bommarillu in mind you'll realize that Bhaskar isn't interested in pulling off another one. But interestingly in the second half the film slowly and steadily changes track and has a go at the issue of runaway lovers. I then started wondering if the title Parugu actually was referring to this kind of "run". Most of the sequences thereon are really well conceived - the one between Ali and Prakash Raj, between Arjun and a drunken Prakash Raj and the ones in the pre-climax. However, as the film nears its climax there is a lot of ambiguity and suspense as to what point of view the director is trying to convey - whether you call it clever writing or a confused mind you decide. At the end it works out pretty well though.

Allu Arjun is his usual self and nothing more is expected of him either. Watch out for his improvised "NTR's Yamadonga step" in the song "Elagelaga". Sheila (looks like a familiar face) is quite good in the initial portions but hasn't got much to do after that. Prakash Raj - who is made to look like a regular villain in the first half does an about turn later in the movie into the sensitive father who loves his daughters more than anything else. This contrast in his portrayal is probably deliberate to bring about the intended effect but I still somewhat felt the inconsistency of his characterization was a sore thumb. Jayasudha does a small cameo. Mani Sharma's music is okay - the kind of songs you'd enjoy watching just once on screen.

This film entertains quite well to merit a good "parugu" at the box office. More than anyone else Chiranjeevi would be pleased with Allu Arjun to have been part of this film.

Tailpiece: If you happen to be the "best friend" of someone who helped him/her elope then beware....this film is directed mostly at you!

Penilaian pertama saya, tidak salah Christine Hakim, aktris kawakan tanah air, memilih ikut main dalam film ini. ITNL bisa dikatakan salah satu karya terbaik Rudy Soedjarwo, sejauh ini. Alur cerita yang lambat tapi padat menjadi salah satu kekuatan ITNL. Ya, walaupun memakan durasi tayang lebih dua jam dengan menghadirkan sekian banyak tokoh dengan karakter dan kepentingannya masing-masing, saya tidak dibuat bosan menontonnya. Setiap karakter memberi bobot tersendiri pada cerita. ITNL ingin mengatakan bahwa selalu ada keberagaman sikap dalam keluarga, bahkan ketika mereka menghadapi "musuh bersama", permusuhan antara keluarga Negara dengan keluarga Hidayat.

Dari awal, Rudy membiarkan penonton untuk lebih mencermati akibat dari permusuhan keluarga tersebut kepada anak-anak mereka. Tentang akar sebenarnya permusuhan tersebut masih terus menjadi tanda tanya hingga lebih dari sejam waktu tayang. Ketidaktahuan akar permusuhan ini pulalah yang membuat Saskia Putri Negara (Acha Septriasa) nekad untuk menjalin kisah asmara dengan  Abimanyu Hidayat (Vino G. Sebastian). Bahkan ketika Abi berada dalam keraguan, Saskia lah yang memberi kekuatan.

Kisah cinta mereka menjadi pemicu kian gentingnya permusuhan keluarga Hidayat dan Negara. Bahkan sampai memakan korban segala. Untunglah masih ada di antara mereka yang mencoba bersikap bijaksana, walaupun sikap tersebut relatif terlambat.

Hadirnya aktor-aktor lawas seperti Roy Martin, Christine Hakim, Cok Simbara dan Tutie Kirana memberi kekuatan tersendiri pada film ini. Akting mereka cukup menawan, terutama Christine dan Cok. Setiap raut wajah mereka memberi penekanan tersendiri.

Bagaimana dengan para generasi penerus mereka? Menurut saya, hanya Acha dan Yama Carlos yang patut diacungi jempol. Acha bisa memainkan watak keras dan rapuh sekaligus. Sementara Yama, yang berperan sebagai Panji, cukup kental dengan watak kerasnya.

Satu hal yang mengganggu saya adalah perpindahan dari satu scene ke scene lain yang terkadang terasa patah. Kenikmatan saya menonton juga terganggu dengan pengambilan gambar di berbagai adegan yang cenderung kurang pas, sehingga sesuatu yang seharusnya sangat dramatis menjadi kurang terasa dramatis. Mungkin sudah saatnya Rudy Soedjarwo tidak merangkap sutradara sekaligus DOP dalam film-filmnya. Memang kecenderungan terakhir Rudy untuk bermain close up dan extrem close up dalam gambar-gambarnya cukup berhasil menghadirkan dramatisasi, tapi di adegan tertentu, permainan kamera tersebut bisa berakibat sebaliknya.

Satu hal yang pantas juga dicatat adalah keberanian Rudy untuk menggantung cerita. Sepengetahuan saya, baru kali ini ada film Indonesia yang dengan tegas mengatakan bakal ada sekuel berikutnya. Sebuah resiko bisnis yang pantas diambil bukan? ***

Awalnya, saya ingin menonton In The Name of Love, besutan Rudy Soedjarwo. Berhubung film tersebut tidak diputar di Senayan City, saya memutuskan untuk menonton Fool's Gold terlebih dahulu. Ada fenomena menarik ketika ngantri tiket. Orang lebih memilih untuk ikut antrian panjang daripada antrian pendek. Apa pasal? Ternyata mereka yang berada di antrian panjang adalah para pemegang kartu kredit BCA atau kartu kredit lain atau debit BCA, tapi sepertinya sebagian besar dari mereka adalah pemegang kartu kredit BCA. Maklum ternyata lagi ada beli 1 dapat 2 alias diskon 50% dari BCA. Saya sendiri berasa di antrian "cash only". Selain karena saya tidak punya kartu kredit BCA, antriannya pendek dan saya sudah dikejar waktu, tidak lebih dari lima menit lagi film akan dimulai.

Ketika antrian saya tiba, saya langsung memesan tiket untuk dua film sekaligus. Selain Fool's Gold, saya memesan Three Kingdoms untuk film berikutnya. "Mau langsung nonton lagi, Pak?" tanya si mbak penjaga karcis. "Yup!" sahut saya. Seorang perempuan yang kebetulan berada di samping melempar senyum lebar. "Wah, ini baru dua, belon tahu dia kalau nanti saya bakal menonton tiga film berturut-turut," pikir saya dalam hati.

Saya terlambat sedikit masuk bioskop, karena harus mengantri lagi untuk beli popcorn dan green tea. Tapi, itu tidak mengubah pendapat saya sama sekali tentang film ini. Kisah tentang petualangan Finn (Matthew McCanaughey) dan mantan istrinya Tess (Kate Hudson) memburu hartu karun berupa mas kawin Ratu Spanyol abad ke-18 terasa menjemukan. Film ini gagal meramu petualangan-komedi-drama romantis menjadi satu cerita utuh yang menegangkan sekaligus menghibur, malah cenderung seperti fim petualangan-komikal dengan sosok-sosok para pemainnya yang digambarkan begitu dangkal. Humor-humor yang dilontarkan pun terasa biasa-biasa saja, untuk tidak mengatakan kurang cerdas.

* * *

Sangat beda ketika saya menonton Three Kingdoms. Film ini sejak awal telah menawarkan ketegangan demi ketegangan. Nama besar Andy Lau, Samo Hung dan Meggy Q memang menjadi jualan utama film ini. Dari segi cerita dan koreografi, menurut saya, film ini tidak menghadirkan sesuatu yang baru, sekadar keroyalan menghaburkan darah di sana-sini.

Saya sempat agak terkejut juga ketika melihat sosok orang-orang yang menonton bersama saya. Banyak di antaranya yang tampak telah berumur 60an tahun ke atas. Malah ada pula yang borongan membawa keluarga besar, dari kakek hingga cucu. Padahal jelas-jelas ini merupakan film dewasa bukan film keluarga. Saya bisa memaklumi bila para nenek dan kakek itu menonton film ini. Karena Three Kingdom memang diangkat dari kisah legenda Cina. Ada nostalgia historis di sana. Dan, sekali lagi, nama besar Andy Lau dan Samo Hung, bisa menjadi jaminan film ini.

Oh, iya, ngomong-ngomong tentang Samo Hung. Selain bertindak sebagai pengarah laga, ada satu hal yang menarik: untuk pertama kalinya, sepengetahuan saya, Samo Hung berperan antagonis. Di sini dia harus mengkhianati negaranya sendiri hanya karena iri dengan keberhasilan "adiknya" menjadi jenderal perang.

* * *

Usai menonton Three Kingdoms, saya pindah tempat ke Plaza Senayan. Impian untuk menonton In The Name of Love pudar sudah. Ketika saya cek via 2121 ternyata jam tayang terakhir sudah lewat. Saya hanya berharap bisa mendapatkan pilihan tontonan film yang lebih beragam dibanding Senayan City. Ada beberapa pilihan film, dan akhirnya pilihan jatuh kepada Chaos. Ada dua pertimbangan saya untuk menonton film ini, jadwal midnite-nya paling dekat, jam 11 kurang, dan keberadaan Jason Statham dan Wesley Snipes. Bagi saya, kedua aktor tersebut merupakan jaminan mutu film laga, terlebih sepengetahuan saya baru kali inilah mereka berdua berada dalam film yang sama.

Eh, ketika sekitar lima belas menit berlalu menonton film ini, saya baru benar-benar yakin bahwa saya telah pernah menonton Chaos sebelumnya. Ya, saya menontonnya beberapa bulan lalu di media cakram digital! Ini salah satu kelemahan saya. Saking banyaknya nonton film, terkadang bisa lupa apakah film bersangkutan sudah ditonton apa belum. Terlebih sekarang ketika film-film yang diputar di bioskop 21 terkadang telah didahului oleh peredaran cakram digitalnya.

Coba jalan-jalan ke Mal Ambasador, misalnya. Anda akan bertemu dengan DVD-nya Juno dan The Nanny Diaries, yang kalau Anda lihat di 21cineplex.com masih termasuk coming soon. Padahal kedua-duanya sudah termasuk kategori DVD original.

Sejujurnya, saya sedikit kecewa juga karena sudah pernah menonton filmnya. Untungnya, kekecewaan saya tersebut agak terobati ketika secara tak terduga, saya bertemu teman lama, yang ternyata oh, ternyata telah pacaran sama seorang presenter televisi. :D ***

Artis (Band): Acha Septriasa

Hidup yang sedang berjalan
Terasa ringan berjalan
Karenamu disisiku disampingku

Cinta yang kian tertanam
Terasa kuat bertahan
Karena kau menguatkan mensucikan
Kau dan aku bersenyawa mengarungi hidup

Cintaku ini akan bertahan
Tak akan habis menembus jaman
Kau buat mega menjadi warna
Satukan hati dan percaya

Cintaku ini akan bertahan
Semakin hari semakin dalam
Engkau dan aku bisa jadikan
Mimpi jadi kenyataan

Hidup yang sedang berjalan
Terasa ringan berjalan
Karena kau menguatkan mensucikan
Kau dan aku bersenyawa mengarungi hidup

~{}~

[Reff:]
Cintaku ini akan bertahan
Tak akan habis menembus jaman
Kau buat mega menjadi warna
Satukan hati dan percaya

Cintaku ini akan bertahan
Semakin hari semakin dalam
Engkau dan aku bisa jadikan
Mimpi jadi kenyataan

U2 covers performed just the way Bono would want them

While we sometimes cringe at the sight of the globe-trotting do-gooder that Bono has become, it can’t be denied that the man and his band mates wrote some powerful music — music that, truth be told, has become slightly shopworn from years of constant play. On a new compilation, In the Name of Love: Africa Celebrates U2, those resonant songs are reinvented and revitalized by artists who truly understand the messages in them.

The performers here may be familiar only to devoted fans of world music (i.e., there’s nobody with the last name Kuti), but their interpretations of the U2 catalog are as diverse as the nations they represent: Nigeria’s Keziah Jones turns in a cover of “One” that strips the song of its messianic overtones and gives it a funky percussion section, while Guinea’s Ba Cissoko brings a new urgency to his understated version of “Sunday Bloody Sunday.” Needless to say, proceeds from the album go to global charities, so come on, buy it in the spirit of Bonoism.

Release Date:  April 1

*** The opinions expressed herein do not necessarily reflect those of beyondJEMS. (especially about cringing on Bono's do gooding - I personally like Bono's globe-trotting activism!)  

Well there's 7 minutes left of St. Patricks day although I heard that officially those wacky Catholics had moved it to the 15th. It's no secret I heart Ireland. I don't know why, I've always loved it and I've always been fascinated with everything about it, especially the history, the writers and the land (literally) oooh and the irish film board, man about dog and intermission, need I say more?!!

Anyway, I'm just midnight rambling here. This is all well and good that St. Patrick's was allegedly on Saturday because I dont think you need reminding that Wales won the 6 Nations on Saturday so whenever Patricks Day was it was greatly overshadowed. In the words of Al Pacino in scent of a woman, hoo-ah! Or wait was "hoo-ah!" the soldiers chant in Black Hawk Down? I forget.

Saturday, I can barely remember either, so very drunk I was! The bar which is notorious for the sporting Welsh was absolutely packed with all the nations. When Shane Williams scored the significant try, I was besides myself and everyone was going mad. Someone shook my shoulder, I turned around screaming, "Wooooo-" damn near got cut off by the lips of a (very sure of himself) Irish guy. I was so elated with the Rugby and so veeery drunk that I snogged (there is no other word for it than this, I'm afraid) the Irish fool back without a second thought. And the rest of the night is history. History of which I don't really remember because I was very, very drunk. But of course nothing beyond PG.13, you know me, I have my reputation.

I've got to do a country review of Ireland soon, of course by this I mean Dublin, I was last there for my birthday with my Mobile Ethnic Brothel (we're like the power puff girls!) ridiculous amount of fun, I assure you! I'm going to bed now, I will tell you about the House Idol fiasco later. Night!

Och ungefär sådär är min relation till min älskade Marius.

Macedonia: Tamara feat. Vrcak & Adrian Gaxha - "Vo imeto ljubovta" (In the name of love)

Remember to allow enough time, so start early in your pregnancy in thinking about names so you have the luxury to change your mind several times before your baby’s due date. You probably have some family jokes about the aunt or uncle you did not decide on a name before the baby’s birth and had to quickly come up with something for the birth certificate before leaving the hospital. Any woman who’s delivered a baby can vouch that after hours of labor and painkillers to follow delivery, we may not be in our best mental state to make a snap life long decision for our child’s name if one has not yet been chosen!

One trick that some parents use during pregnancy is to try out baby names on restaurant waiting lists to see how the name sounds to them when a stranger calls out “their” potential name. Many websites also offer anonymous voting on baby names you are considering if you would like to weigh in on other’s opinions, but would rather not have the pressured opinion of a family member.

Take the baby’s surname into consideration. How does the name you have chosen flow with the surname? Does it become a tongue twister with tough sounds to put together, does it sound funny or does it flow naturally when said out loud? Depending on the name, it is sometimes harder say a first and last name if the first name ends on the same letter that the last name starts with. For example, a name that ends with “A” and starts with “A” on the last name might be a bit tricky to say together. Also, consider what the middle name will be and what the initials together may spell out. For example, if you are naming your daughter Elizabeth Ally Thomas then her initials suddenly become EAT, which she may not appreciate in later years.

Remember the name you choose for your baby will become his or her lifelong name, not just a baby name. Some names that sound adorable for babies may not sound so enduring for your son or daughter’s job interview as an adult. Also, think about your baby’s first day at grade school and do not pick anything that sounds like a name that could be an easy target for teasing on the playground.

Consider the possible nicknames that could be derived from your baby’s name. Are these names you like? Even though you may not choose the nickname, others could if it is a typical nickname. Perhaps you like the nickname even better than the original name in which case you could do your baby a favor by picking the more formal name and letting them decide which name they prefer to go by as an adult.

Often parents feel the pressure from family members to use family names. Although family names have their value and can often convey a rich family heritage or honor a loved one, do not feel obligated to choose a name you do not like or does not convey the feeling your have for your child. If your family is dying for you to use your grandfather’s name, Isaiah, and you do not feel this is the proper identity for your child, don’t choose it. If you really would like a family name for your child but don’t care for any of the possible selections as first name choices, consider it as a middle name.

Classic always works well because it has been time tested. If you like a classic name and it works well with the baby’s surname, then you can not go wrong. On the flip side, don’t try to be too trendy or cool. Names that top the charts some years are long outdated ten years later. We all know that certain names, like Gertrude or Mildred, go with a certain age and era. But, in their day these names were cool and trendy.

If you are considering naming your baby after a celebrity, make sure it is one that you admire with a good reputation. These days a celebrity cannot get into their car without all kinds of media attention to their every piece of clothing and mood. You may find your favorite celebrity is on the bad side of the press a few years down the way, so choose your name wisely.

Unique is great, but too unique is hard to remember. You want your baby to have a special identity but make sure it is not too hard for the average person to pronounce or your baby’s name may turn into something else on the lips of others. Also, stick to the more straightforward spelling to avoid others spelling the name incorrectly or pronouncing your child’s name incorrectly.

Most important, choose the name that you and your partner like the best, even if you have to keep it secret until the baby’s birth. Chance’s are nobody’s going to criticize you for your baby’s name selection once your baby has been born. As your baby’s parent, you have your baby’s best interest at heart, so do not feel pressured or guilty about not choosing Uncle Albert’s name, even if he is promising a rich inheritance to a namesake. Although it may be worth considering for a middle name!