So, And Thus...

Happy Birthday, Ein Oso!

Happy Birthday Ein Oso from your extended family in Maryland !

Greetings,

We hope all your B-day wishes come true.
Lotssa good Italian food followed by a Carvel Sunday.

Don't have the bluebeary sunday.

Love Always..... The R's

Kelly Clarkson Breaks Record

No sill... she didn't sit on it.

Kelly Clarkson Breaks Record For Hot 100 Jump

Kelly Clarkson will make history on this week's Billboard Hot 100, to be posted tomorrow (Jan. 29) on Billboard.com, with the largest leap to No. 1 in the chart's 50-year history.

Her new single, "My Life Would Suck Without You," is set to rocket 97-1 after selling 280,000 digital downloads in its first week of availability. The song is also faring well at radio, jumping 58-38 on the Hot 100 Airplay chart and 27-18 on the Mainstream Top 40 list.

And somewhere in the world... Clive is smiling.

So, And Thus... 3 Years!

And today marks our 3rd Anniversary!

So please... have some cake!

Thanks for reading. Keep on leaving comments!

Some statistics from this past year:

• Total number of visits last year: 45494
• Total number of page views last year: 58928
• Average hits per day: 131.13
• Average of average posts: average

Happy Anniversary, Ein Oso!

I can't believe it's been this long!

So what do you call the anniversary of when you met? Happy Meeting Anniversary? Happy Anniversary of the Meeting? Happy Happy Pikachu?

My Top 10 Albums of 2008

So we've come to another year end list. Let me first say that I'm SO glad I have iTunes and can come up with a "smart playlist" to display all my music from 2008. I had a few "oh yea!" moments when reviewing the list. Oops!

There is a lot I consider when deciding which album should be included in my top 10 of 2008. I factor in how often I listened to an album and how it wore on me. Also, being a musician, I tend to concentrate on the quality of the songwriting, the arrangements and the production. I keep away from all the hype when I make my choices (if that were the case, Duffy would have been on my list.). I hate including something just because everyone else "loved it". I have to "love it" on my own.

In our "computer"/ "internet" age, music is just so abundant. Unfortunately, I've discovered a few "gems" way after they were released. It's hard to be exposed to everything! Who has the time?!?! I'm sure I'm going to discover something next year that should have been mentioned in this post. Oh well.

Also, it's hard to place some album in my list when "official" release dates get in the way. I get a lot promotional music and buy a ton of imports. How do you place Kylie or Robyn when they have US releases? Or what about the Vanessa Daou promo I received in November with a street date for sometime next year? To make it easier, I have to keep to the first release date of an album, even if the album seems to make a splash at a much later date.

So, here you have my top 10 albums for 2008. The order is pretty much right, though a few could easily swap places with others.

1. Goldfrapp - Seventh Tree

2. 

   "Seventh Tree" (Goldfrapp)

   This is the crown jewel of the year. A musician's record with pop sensibilities. I totally get immersed in their world. This is the kind of album that will remain a classic throughout every trend. I just can't say enough about this group.

3. Shelby Lynne - Just A Little Lovin'
   

4. 

   "Just A Little Lovin'" (Shelby Lynne)

   What a voice. Something so sad about it. I expect every gay man to own this record (go. buy it now). Phil Ramone did an excellent job with the production.

5. Wendy & Lisa - White Flags Of Winter Chimneys
   

6. 

   "Invisible" and "Balloon" (what a song!) were released earlier this year and kept me in total anticipation of this album. But who am I kidding... I would love anything they do. Though this album came out at the end of the year, it really had an impact on me. I admire Wendy & Lisa's work so much. Another solid release.

7. k.d. lang - Watershed
   

8. 

   "Watershed" (k.d. lang)

   Exquisite. The ingénue has become a woman. Of course, everything you'd expect from her delivery is there: that beautiful velvety voice, the long graceful phrasing, the way she says... "Massapequa"... Wow. All of her albums between "Ingénue" and this one seem like distractions. "Watershed" shows how she has really matured in her songwriting. Lyrically, she reflects on her spiritual journey. Musically, her melodies, tonalities and arrangements dip into impressionism. Not an album for everyone, but a indulgence for connoisseurs. *burp*

9. Cyndi Lauper - Brink Ya To The Brink

10. 

    "Bring Ya to the Brink" (Cyndi Lauper)

    Cyndi provided the soundtrack to my summer. Fun songs with great hooks. Her best offering in quite some time.

11. Nayo - African Girl

12. f

    "African Girl" (Nayo)

    Nigerian born Nayo has constantly been compared to Sade and I don't think she minds it (citing her as an influence on this album and even doing a "Smooth Operator" cover on a compilation album). Yes, you can hear the "Sade" influence all over "African Girl". Though her young voice doesn't quite have the depth of Sade's voice, it still has a lot of character... a sense of underlying maturity about it. I can't wait to hear what she does next.

13. Adele - 19

14. 

    "19" (Adele)

    What a talent. Great first outing for this youngster. And what a voice! She sings, writes and plays. I love the old feel to these song. I hope she wins a Grammy.

15. The Ting Tings - We Started Nothing
    

16. 

    "We Started Nothing" (The Ting Tings)

    This was definitely my "fun" album for the year. You wanna get in a good mood? Put this one on.

17. Alanis Morissette - Flavors Of Entanglement

18. 

    "Flavors Of Entanglement" (Alanis Morissette)

    Great release from Alanis. I loved that she tried something new... and it worked. The updated production was needed. I still get annoyed how she sometimes puts wrong musical emphasis on wrong syllables ("The wrong em-PHA-sis on the wrong syl-LA-ble"), but I forgive her this time. Bonus disc material was very strong too.

19. Girls Aloud - Out Of Control
20. 

21. "Out of Control" (Girls Aloud

    Don't hate me! This album was just so good. Catchy song and great production. Classic Pet Shop Boys song, "The Loving Kind", though "The Promise" was my favorite.

Honorable Mentions:

• Swing Out Sister - Beautiful Mess: Could have made my top 10. I really did like this album, but I liked their last effort ,"Where Our Love Grows" a little bit better.
• Grace Jones - Hurricane: "This is my voice, my weapon of choice". Great start to a very strong album. Again, could have made my top 10.
  
• Sia - Some People Have Real Problems: I love how unusual Sia is.
  
• Donna Summer -Crayons: I understood the concept for the album; like different color crayons, no two songs were the same. I just wish there was a little more consistency to the album. Felt like I had to navigate to find the good songs when I put this on. Loved "Stamp Your Feet". Donna's voice is still intact.
  
• Sheryl Corw - Detours: Some very good songs on here, but the first single "Love Is Free" has one of the most annoying intros I've ever heard. And stop trying to recreate "Soak Up The Sun", okay?!
• Annie - Don't Stop: Very fun. Good pop songs. Shame it wasn't released.
• The B-52's - Funplex: Cindy's back!
• ABC - Traffic: I was really impressed with this album. Wish it did better. Saw them perform this summer. Amazing.
• LaBelle - Back To Now: Finally, someone told Patti to ease-off a bit! Some good "old school" tracks.
• Coldplay - "Viva La Vida": One of my favorite songs this year. Album was good, but I didn't feel like I needed to go back to it all the time.
• Delta Goodrem - "In This Life": Incredible chorus. Wish the rest of the album was as strong as this song.
• Katy Perry - "Hot N Cold": Great pop song. But she can't sing live.
• Solange - "I Decided (Freemason remix)", "Sandcastle Disco": And why should we care about your sister when you're giving us stuff like this!
• Jennifer Hudson - "Spotlight": Great single. Got me very excited for her album (more on that below).

2008 Disappointments and Reality Checks

• Why does the album-buying public think that Alicia Keys can sing? The theme song to this Fall's Quantum Of Solace, "Another Way To Die" was one of the worst James Bond themes ever. Ever. EVER! Listening to Alicia Keys IS another way to die.
• I was really looking forward to Jennifer Hudson's first album, but was very disappointed. The lead single "Spotlight" was great but the rest of the album was too pedestrian for me.
• Madonna delivered a sell-out album. Boring
• I really wanted to like The Pretenders new album "Break Up The Concrete", but I just couldn't get into it. Songs weren't very memorable and the production was too raw for me.
• Carly Simon - This Kind Of Love: I love Carly, but I didn't like this album.
• Randy Jackson featuring Paul Abdul - "Dance like there's no tomorrow": We know what computers can do and apparently, so does Randy. Paula just can't sing. Not even a computerized, filtered effect can disguise that. .Odd melody for the chorus, flat delivery. Just....bad.
• Alesha Dixon - Can somebody write better lyrics for her?
• All the love for Duffy has seemed to fade away. The album never hit me. bland, bland, bland.
• Ladytron - Velocifero: I was expecting more from this album. It was too washed-out (too much reverb), where the vocals were hardly discernible. Too many songs sounded alike.

Obama Wins!

I'm going to sleep tonight with a profound feeling of peace. I haven't had that in quite a long time.

Just now, Ein Oso and I experience a lifetime event (I've had quite a few of them this year!), one that moved us so deeply, we couldn't help but to cry. Hope has made its way beyond hatred. Unity has replaced division. Truth has finally arrived.

I remember waking up the day after the November 2004 election. The news that President Bush won a second term left me completely numb. For days, I was in a haze of depression. I kept on thinking that people "just didn't get it". After these 8 years, I think people started to catch on.

I'm so excited to have Barack Obama be our President. I'm so grateful to see honesty return to our nation. I'm looking forward to the future.

It's Official!

Madonna's spokeswoman says the singer and her husband, filmmaker Guy Ritchie, will divorce after seven-and-a-half years together.

Madonna, Guy Ritchie To Divorce

Connecticut Supreme Court rules in favor of gay marriage

The Connecticut Supreme Court just released its decision in the case of Kerrigan v. Commissioner of Public Health. By a 4-3 decision, the Court ruled that same-sex couples have the right to marry:

Connecticut Supreme Court rules in favor of gay marriage

Great news!

Happy Birthday!

La Magnifica!!!

I had to ask the cat not to say anything.