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Gracias… Gracias… or Muchas Gracias!

Bjork was cool. Other than the fact that I was forbidden to take my camera… and I was told it was gonna be restricted… I saw many people with cameras and I was a bit pissed. From my point of view, just a little above 5′ tall… I saw a few heads and a whole bunch of arms from where I was standing… and the seldom view of Bjork. Again, she was cool. My place? Not so much.

While waiting for the concert to begin, we had some electro beats mixed with something reminiscing of Japanese or Chinese opera. Prensa Nikkei would surely have enjoyed that bit, though I don’t know if people realized this… I was expecting someone to come out wearing a kabuki mask at any minute! When finally, it stopped. Lights went out, except for the dark lights, and a brief intro that sounded like It’s Oh So Quiet began, soon it faded as the stage was getting filled up with the members of the band, the choir… I don’t think there’s ever been as many Icelandic people in Lima – and finally, Bjork herself.

Earth Intruders began playing.

The lights were pretty nice, and the sound was better than what I was expecting, for sure… but still I wished they had used a couple of screens, just so you could see her in there, even if you couldn’t see her because of all the heads and arms with cameras…

Since I had no camera, I will have to trust my memory… which more often than not, sucks ass. After Earth Intruders, she sang Hunter – I’m pretty sure – or was it Hyperballad? LOL’ I was trying to take a look at her, and enjoy the music… but I was often taken out of my reverie by people pushing me, or trying to steal my place… and flashes in my face.

The tracklist was good and varied… the more rocking Army of Me, and I Miss You were there~~ actually, the concert really became more powerful right after Bjork grabbed the microphone and said something like;

Stop taking photographs, we are almost at the end. Enjoy the music, we are in a live concert not  documenting this.

The more sensitive people kept their cameras down after that, although some retards began taking a few more. You could tell Bjork really cared about it, and thus you learn to respect her opinion. At the beginning she wasn’t really there… in fact, I noticed she approached the side of the stage I was more closed to less than the opposite side, because there were many people with their cameras up! She must have thought, if you keep doing this… I will not stay on this side for too long.

After people began enjoying the concert for what it was, Bjork exploded with energy and started bouncing up and down and shaking her head as if trying to tell us she’s seen Gloria Trevi perform “Pelo Suelto” – LOL’ – The singing became superb, and in some numbers I could feel my eyes water a bit because she was here… lol. Bjork was in Lima, but better than her acknowledging Peru or Lima, it was exciting because I was there hearing her sing, talk and seeing her bounce and shake. It was quite emotional actually, haha.

Bjork looks in person, just as you could imagine… short, peculiar… radiant, and glowing creativity! She talked twice, once saying that about the cameras… and the other to say that her Spanish wasn’t very good, but that she was happy to be in Peru. And, of course, the usual Gracias, or Muchas Gracias after each song hahaha. I think most people were getting like “well, duh!” – She also yelled Viva La Revolucion right before the full encore, Declare Independence.

Overall, the concert was good… you can tell, though I missed some of my fave songs like Venus as a Boy, or Big Time Sensuality, or Oceania… and I wished I had my spikes on so I could poke people around me. LOL’

Rate: 4/5

Top5 Amy Live Concerts:
The Futureheads (Vancouver – 2006)
Bjork (Lima – 2007)
La Ley (Lima – 2001)
The Killers (Vancouver 2005)
John Mayer / Maroon 5 (Vancouver – 2004)

After feeling guilty over hearing Britney’s Blackout, I checked on iTunes and found a good compilation from one of my fave actresses… and for a good cause!

Big Change: Songs for FINCA was initially just a celebrity playlist that ended up as a one big project. This will probably be one of the best deals with music that you’ll get… not only you get 16-tracks that include Tokyo Police Club, The Shins, and Norah Jones just to name a few… it’s only $7.99 on iTunes Canada -and if you buy the whole album, you get a digital booklet with some pictures. Best celebrity playlist ever.

$$ is going to help FINCA, an organization that helps individuals (mostly women) with microcredit and financial support, so they can improve their quality of life, and that of others. Here are some small pictures of the digital booklet!

Songs for FINCA 2

Continue Reading…

November’s Begun

November 2, 2007 — Leave a comment

Wow, hard to imagine the year is almost over, eh? What a waste it was… mostly, really. I feel like I’ve achieved very little to nothing, and such small pleasures in my meaningless life have been stripped from me maliciously in a year.

I’m still looking forward to seeing Bjork in Lima, though still my hopes are not up. Anything can happen in 11 days… – I went to see The Invasion, much to my displeasure. I was supposed to watch The Brave One for free, but like I said… anything can happen – and we got a change of plans the same day of the show. The film wasn’t as bad as I was expecting, I truly enjoy watching Nicole Kidman on screen. Though I can’t help compare her face in the film, which was flawless to the one she’s got on red carpet events.

The Invasion was predictable, and wasn’t really suspenseful… kinda gross when all those people/aliens were spitting and puking that stuff in the coffees and teas… yuck! And I guess I must be sick or something, since I was the only one laughing when Nicole grabbed her on-screen son’s friend and shoved him inside to trap him. If you’re expecting a night of goof around with the friends, watch it for the few laughs. 2/5

Another Nicole/Daniel Craig film I’m anxiously awaiting is The Golden Compass (real title: Northern Lights) – though the boards seem to be bombarded by reports of New Line Cinema butchering the books… which if they are doing due to religious/marketable reasons – well, they would suck. I really dislike Christians who complain about fictional books that touch religious subjects, and more so when such people attack verbally to people that work in a project. I mean, what does Nicole Kidman have to do with promoting atheism? If you are only too stupid and lack the gray matter to compensate for the white in your brain to do something because a fictional character does it, then too bad.

Instead of this people bitching about why Nicole Kidman chooses to make a movie that touches on religious themes and maybe makes you question the world we live in, why not complain over the fact that the Paris Hiltons, Lindsay Lohans, Britney Spears are the role models of today… because oh yeah, that’s like hot. Totally.

Like I said a few hours ago, I blame it all on Disney… All Disney new stars are doomed to get their crotch shots, or nudie pictures in their late teens or early twenties. Britney, Lohan… that girl from High School Musical that I don’t even know her name.

Look at me, starting from a simple review to end with a rant. LOL’ – Amazing.

On other news, kinda… have you guys heard Britney Spears’ new album? I was decided not to download, but reports of it being #1 this week, as well as rumored ‘good reviews’ made me curious. I just think it’s funny how Gimme More it’s on like #1 or something, yet when I ask anyone on my MSN list their thoughts on it, they tell me they hate the freaking song. LOL’ – Me thinks there’s too many closeted Britney fans out there. So, I downloaded the thing to listen to it and judge myself… which makes me think all of you out there are freaking retarded. I hated it. It’s not even danceable, I couldn’t find a single catchy tune… Britney sounds more robotic than ever, and every freaking song sounded the same. Oh, I also thought the song Piece of Me reminded me of the bomb that was Madonna doing her rap song in whichever year she did that.

Who’s new album was enjoyable? Juanes’ new album – La Vida Es un Ratico – was pretty enjoyable as was the newest Backstreet Boys album, Unbreakable. Though I bet neither will show on charts…

Britney Spears is like weed, she’s not as dangerous as cocaine… but you can get curious and it gets you hooked to other more dangerous stuff.

First, before anyone complains about my opinion, I’m writing this reviews not only as a person who listens to Celtic Woman, but also as someone who’s bought tons of DVDs, and even has made some in her short career.

I’ve got my complete Celtic Woman DVD collection, of sorts…
– Celtic Woman
– Celtic Woman: Live at Slane Castle
– Celtic Woman: A Christmas Celebration

First, some facts on Amy relating to Celtic Woman:
– Saw them on a PBS (Public Broadcasting SOMETHING SOMETHING hahaha) in Canada
– Were in Vancouver, but missed them coz I had classes.
– Fiddling is cool, Amy thinks.
– Saw clips of the Slane Castle show, and bought the DVD.
– The 2nd DVD was the first in my collection.

Reviews Continue Reading…

I saw my first episode of Brazil Next Top Model. Yes, the Top Model fever made it to South America. At first sight, BrNTM had really great aesthetics… so I just had to give it a peek. First, the colors are very ‘hot’ right now, with blacks, magenta and cyan… so it was hard not to be attracted to the brand.

Brazilian super-uber model Gisele Bundchen was to host, but declined – instead BrNTM’s got Fernanda Motta, who gives the show a whole lot different look than it would’ve gotten if Bundchen had accepted. Fernanda’s got dark thicker eyebrows, darker hair – she kinda reminds me of Amanda Peet. Anyone else think so? Check out her pic in the BrNTM’s site (here). She’s got a lower voice, than high-pitched Tyra Banks, who… let’s face it, has given ANTM a woo-ha-ha vibe to the show… so in the end, BrNTM seems a more serious version of America’s…………. Next…. Top…… Model. lol’

Technically, I don’t like BrNTM’s editing… seems a bit choppy at times, and sometimes it lengthens shots and *snores* – yeah, that’s basically it. While I was watching the episode, I couldn’t wait for the scene to end and get it over with. This first photoshoot was a bit boring too, and I guess I must’ve missed this bit in the subtitles, but some of the shots were f-ugly.

Judges have no personality. I’m sorry. I didn’t care much about what they were actually saying because they said the same thing over and over – I’d much rather watch Mrs. Jay talking to Tyra and Nigel… okay, Twiggy falls in the “same thing over and over” category. However, they did seem to be ‘harsher’ in their comments than the American version… kinda like how Janice Dickinson would say something, only LESS FUNNY and LESS ENTERTAINING. They would be better off showing us a report card with a checklist to see if they make it or not.

Contestants… I dunno if it’s because it’s my first time watching, but they or most of them seemed similar to me. I think there are like 2 that I can actually remember how they look. Livia, and Erycka – other than them, I can’t remember their faces or won’t tell them apart. There were like two others that had pretty faces, one of them reminded me of a friend… needs hmm, more variety?

On the subtitling part, this is on Sony – I feel like I missed a lot from the show from the subtitles. I’ve no idea why, but it is what it is. Better subs? Or maybe I’m just not used to hearing much Portuguese, but I’ve seen films in Portuguese and I know there are better subtitles than the ones you’ve been showing me, so don’t go there blaming my ability to read subs, because I know I’m good at it.

Overall, I’ve still to make my mind about this. I will probably give it another shot, but it needs to be less slow, less boring, and please keep the Brazilian Soap Opera vibe to a minimum (yeah, saw the commercial for next week’s episode). And of course, BrNTM in the end could be more talented and more serious, but THAT DOESN’T MAKE GOOD TV VIEWING.

Here is the shortlist:

  • Better editing.
  • Cut boring shots short.
  • Add spice (a.k.a. personality) to the judges, or…
  • Change jury to a simple checklist… check!
  • More physical variety to the contestants.
  • Better subtitles.

Witches!

October 13, 2007 — Leave a comment

Witches is on Boomerang right now! And it’s official, Angelica Houston has to be the most wicked and most horrifying witch there ever was in the history of witches on screen.

I remember when I was a little kiddo and caught a glimpse of this film on Panamericana Television, and I got like major nightmares with that one scene of all the women turning into bald scary looking witches with long fingers. Freaks me out still. I just saw that bit again, and it looks so freaky… even when I have it on mute haha.

I haven’t gotten around to reading the book, which I have researched for the sake of getting a decent-sized picture of WitchAngelica Houston, but no such luck. I remember the film had a happy ending, though the book doesn’t… this caused like a breach between the author and the production – I thought that was worth mentioning.

I miss the good old days of puppets and animatronics.

**EDIT**

I thought it was worth to mention Michelle Pfeiffer in Stardust. She was pretty freaky in that movie too, but doesn’t come close to Angelica Houston. Michelle Pfeiffer plays an evil very very old witch – but Houston plays an evil old and deformed monster… lol – I tell you, freaks me out.

A little more blogging!

October 11, 2007 — 2 Comments

October 15th is Blog Day or something… and we are supposed to get talking about the environment that day. Oh yeah, blog day is a day when all people could blog about this one topic… I think it could be interesting, yet I really don’t know what I could talk about relating to the environment, so if you’ve got an idea, let me know.

Also, I re-started watching America’s Next Top Model Cycle 7, which has just began last week in Latin America through Sony Entertainment Television. So people, if you get Sony – tune in every Wednesday at 8pm Chile/7pm Peru Colombia and support CariDee, AJ, Megg, Megan, Michelle and Amanda! Lol’

I’m gonna show-off and say “zomg! I still can’t believe Megan left a message in my MySpace” haha – she’s awesome! Megg also sent a short message, so Rock ON!!!!!!!! ^^

Also began watching The Tudors, season 1, on People and Arts – I missed the episode on Sunday, and the repeat seemed like it was censored because it kept on going to commercials at weird intervals. It was okay, though… I was expecting more. I guess I’m gonna feel like this with The Other Boleyn Girl, which is a shame – it might be a better read, than watching it on screen.

I’ve also been meaning to watch Weeds, I’ve seen the first 2 or 3 episodes, and it was really good. I was looking for the DVD, and it was really cheap, but it turns out season 1 of Weeds is only Fullscreen, instead of Widescreen – and Lionsgate has no plans on re-releasing this as a Widescreen DVD. STUPID LIONSGATE. They just want $$, so people that don’t wanna buy the Fullscreen DVDS have to get the Widescreen Blu-ray discs – now, I haven’t even started buying neither HD or Blu so I won’t start just now.

My thoughts on Deezer

October 4, 2007 — Leave a comment

Okay, last night I had a whole idea of posting a really elaborate post on Deezer, which I have just begun to use. Mainly because I had some complaints about using their upload function… more than anything else. But now, I’m just too lazy to take all that trouble of screen capturing and showing you what bothered me, and alternatives.

My main pet peeve was that I had to open a brand new tab/window to upload and browse at the same time. Maybe I’m just kinda silly, but the first track I tried uploading failed because I went to my “new playlist” while it was uploading hahaha. Oh, silly me~ So yeah, after that, I did the whole tabbing thing, but it made the upload transfer even slower. :(

Now, the upload experience was a pain in itself. Some tracks will go through, and some would begin but never make it… all the time, it seemed like the interface froze, and had to restart again and again. Until I finally called it quits. I successfully uploaded like 6 tracks out of the 12 tracks I had chosen… in like 5 hours or so.

I don’t think their upload function works really well, because it doesn’t let me know at what speed my mp3 is uploading, and at what percentage or how many kbs its uploading. It was really frustrating at times, specially with the freezing of the uploads… Moreover, the multiple uploads didn’t really work. 2/3 of the tracks never make it past the middle of the bar, and it went back to frozen.

I read some comments on it, because I was looking my problem up online, and it seemed I wasn’t the only one with uploading problems. I think there are a lot of users who won’t be sharing their music due to this issue, and I should include myself in!

Up until now, the most satisfactory upload feature has been that of Flickr. I love it. Haha… It lets you upload multiple files, lets you review your files, and then lets you begin your transfer. It shows you a progress bar that is constantly moving, and one by one, they begin their upload. Just simple.

What’s Deezer good for? Sharing playlists, finding music and probably listening to music, though it does take a few tries to get the song play fine because sometimes it takes time buffering, and sometimes it even just plays a second or two and skips to the next. I will still probably use this for a month or two… or maybe a bit more, until it finally gets screwed up like Pandora did. Yes, I am complaining because Pandora is now country restricted. It is funny that of getting digital music country restriction, yet I can purchase stuff off of anywhere on the net.

I should also add my comment on some of the add suggestions for a next release. I read on their forum that people wanted an application for Facebook, as well as other mambo-jambo features, which I think will complicate Deezer. I like Deezer how it is, simple, easy and useful. No users, no “check this user’s taste in music”, no “compare your taste in music” crap. Deezer, KISS! Oh yeah, I know it doesn’t really work on mySpace or probably other sites, but please… can we hmm promote proper Flash embedding?

<div style="top:0px; left:0px; width:180px; height:236px;">
 <object data="https://www.deezer.com/embedded/widget.swf?path=1559967〈=
 en&autoplay=true&id=627896" type="application/x-shockwave-flash"
 width="180" height="220">
 <param name="allowScriptAccess" value="sameDomain" />
 <param name="movie" value="
 https://www.deezer.com/embedded/widget.swf?path=1559967〈=
 en&autoplay=true&id=627896" />
 </object>
 <a href="https://www.deezer.com" target="_blank"
 style="border:none;margin:0;padding:0;">
 <img src="https://www.deezer.com/embedded/footer.jpg" alt="free music"
 width="180" height="16" border="0" style="border:none;margin:0;
 padding:0;" title="free music" />
 </a>
 </div>

Gracias,

Aha… long time no writing nothing, eh? It’s been mainly because Internet has been really really REALLY slow. Nothing really loads, and I have to reload pages at least 10 times sometimes to open them… it’s all Telefonica’s fault. There’s a rumor around that one of their DNS servers crashed, which explains why EVERYONE’S connection has been crappy. BUT HEY! They would NEVER EVER admit it’s their fault. One day before I found out, they came over to check the connection and failed to mention this, and blamed one of my computers instead.

Anyway, this weekend’s been full of films… nothing in the theaters because Peru sucks at releasing films I want to watch, so I’ve been watching DVDs and downloads. Here are the films I watched: Continue Reading…

put on some clothes, woman!

September 9, 2007 — 3 Comments

So, just about 20min ago, Britney did her ‘comeback’ performance on the 2007 VMA’s – there is just something that sums up what’s on my mind. WHAT A JOKE! First impression was; EWWWWWW.

She looked terribly wrong in that outfit, and let’s just say she needs to realize she’s not a hot momma, and that she’s a mother of two. She can’t keep wearing this crap and think it’s hot. Looking at her with that outfit was like watching a mom wearing a leotard… just plain disgusting.

Then, after having a first impression and terrible opinion of her wardrobe, let’s talk about the performance. First, I’m not so into the song… but hey! There was still a slim chance she might give a rocking performance… oh, how I wished that! Let’s see… she barely sang anything. BUT, you might say what about her dancing? I mean, 7 years ago she had pretty awesome choreographed dances~ yeah, well… that was 7 years ago.

Nothing is left of her dancing abilities. This time around, she barely moved around the stage, while wearing thin-needle-heel shoes… and when she tried to move in any way that faintly resembled past-Britney, she failed miserably with sluggish movements that looked horrible on screen. I won’t even get into saying how this combination of music, dance moves and wardrobe looked with her new mommy body.

Enough said.