Lee Grane is trending on my Facebook wall.

Once there are more than 2 people posting something the same on my FB wall, I would usually check out what the fuss is all about. I am glad I did for this one, too.

She totally bowled me over.

Lee Grane's Full Blind Audition at The Voice PH


Here's another youtube video of Lee Grane, doing Voice of Angel - Sarah Mclachlan cover.

Here's the link to the full video of the Opening Ceremony of London 2012 Olympic Games.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4As0e4de-rI

Here are the screen shots (images) I took of the Opening Ceremony of London 2012 Olympic Games:

The welcoming of the Queen:

At The Tower Bridge

More images of the Opening Ceremony of London 2012 Olympic Games. coming up.

And yeah, here's more:

And yeah, who could not see David Beckham, right? Sister? Took this specially for you.

Team from Malaysia 

Team from the Philippines!

For those Twilighters outthere. Eat your heart out!

LOL.

I am pretty sure you guys are uber excited for November to come.

Stole this shot when I was browsing through Yahoo Entertainment News...

The Cullen's (Edward and Bella) family photo for Breaking Dawn part 2. Coming out in November, 2012 and in Malaysia, too.

I am still on the lookout for the sequel of the Thai movie First Love (Crazy Little Thing Called Love) starred by the cuties Mario Maurer, Pimchanok Luewisedpaiboon, Tukkie. I watched the movie last year when a blogger friend recommended it.

Funny coz I watched it a few times.
Last night, while the hubs and the daughter were still in Thailand, I was kind of feeling a bit down so I decided to watch the movie again. I just love that movie. I also love the composition of the videography (not sure what the right term is). I was kind of wishing I was watching it with a 5.1 home theater system but oh, well, is it free to dream. So yeah, I am dreaming on. LOL.

Anyways, took the liberty to take screen shots of the movie... my favorite parts:

This was when she was challenged to be a drum major

The squid story:

Girl: (after hearing the squid story) So cute.

Boy: Which one the story or the teller?

Girl: The teller. Awww..errr.. the story.

Just amazed to see another Filipino making it to the top of American Idol. During the AI 2012 for the Top 13, 16-year old Jessica Sanchez did one of the world's hardest song to sing, I Will Always Love You by Whitney Houston.



Apparently, Jessica Sanchez was given another standing ovation by the three judges of AI.

She has such an amazing voice.

And yes, she's a Filipino.

Goosebumps galore!

For those people who knew the LaRue Band, here's a good news for you. One of the members, Natalie, is coming back after a decade of being hiatus for the sake of her family. I truly wanna support her as I could relate to slowing things down for the sake of your family. Now she's ready to be in the music scene again and I kind of encouraged how challenging it was for her to slow down on the things she loved doing the most and struggling very hard to get back into it again.

Anyways, so much for the introduction but Natalie is running a kickstarter campaign which is a great way to allow people along for the journey towards her new music and message.

You can find out more about it here: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/natalielarue/natalie-larues-6-song-ep-music-cd

Natalie's Facebook: www.facebook.com/natalielarue

The post below is Natalie's message to us:

I am sitting on my piano bench, I take a deep breath. Time to practice. Time to be creative. I need to go over that song again, the one I keep forgetting the lyrics to because I never wrote them down. I need to stretch out my voice, I need to... ”Mama, can I have a snack?” my 5 year old daughter Ella asks me. “Sure babe, just grab a string cheese out of the fridge.”
Hmm, where was I? Yes, time to be creative, to let instinct run free and...

“Mom, why did Ella get a snack and I didn’t?” my son this time. “Did you ask me if you could have one, Noah?”

“No," 'Well all you have to do is ask permission bud, and you can have one.”
All right here we go again, deep breath, focus. My heart whispers a small prayer, asking the Lord to bless this time, to come and fill me. I begin to play, sing, words coming out with some effort but at least they are coming. My voice sounds tired. Not much sleep the night before - oh well, life is full these days.

Everything seems to be going to plan and then THUMP. I hear crying and shouting from the other room.

“MOM, the baby fell over!” I’m already off of my bench, out the room, scooping my smallest into my arms.

This is a snapshot of my world.

Ten years ago if you would have asked me where I would be now, I don’t think I could have even imagined.

Ten years ago I was in a band called LaRue with my brother Phillip.

Ten years ago I had about twenty countries stamped in my passport and a collection of plane ticket stubs and hotel keys.

Ten years ago I was months away from meeting my husband at a music festival in England.
My world after that was very much altered, in the best of ways, in the hardest of ways. Rob and I fell in love, got married shortly there after. We had our first son, our unplanned “Oops Baby” a year and a half later. If you are a mother, then you know what I mean when I say, the moment my baby was put in my arms, my whole identity shifted. I will never be the same.

So here I am now. Attempting, after a long hiatus, to step back into the world that was once familiar territory. Now I’ve got some new shoes, some old scars and a lot of perspective. I have songs that have been birthed out of the most pivotal period of my life. The transition from girl to woman, woman to wife, wife to mother. I have lots to say, and somehow, some way, out of the fog of family life - and with a little nudging from my husband - I feel ready to say it. I am ready to start a dialogue with words and music in hope that I reach the hearts of people very much like myself.

Women. Mothers. Spouses. Cooks. Cleaners. Friends. Sisters. Jesus-lovers... and oh, so much more.

Yes. I am excited about this journey toward music. It's been slow in the making but isn’t that sometimes where the best stuff comes from? The longest and the roughest, the things that surpass the test of time? I would be honored for you to be a part of it. Who knows what to expect? On my part at least, I know I can expect many interruptions.

One of the best movies I have watched so far this year was New Year's Eve. It's a star-studied movie. It's a chick flick and yet a decent movie. You can rarely watch chick flicks nowadays that are quite decent, I should say. The movie speaks of love and romance and the reality of couple's lives.

One of the reviews said:

I don't think I understand people at all. I watched it despite all the bad reviews and I didn't regret it. I'm starting to think people are really bitter, it's a really sweet movie about new years and how people feel around that time of the year, it actually gave me a warm feeling, so yes, it's not a deep smart full of effects movie, but sometimes people need a movie like this, I'm all against unchallenging movies, but I don't think this was the case at all. It's the perfect new year movie, that gives you hope for the year to come and live everyday fully. The variety of characters is okay, as you get to know them enough to see a little bit of yourself in them or not,and it's really interesting to see what different people go through at that time of the year and how they feel and what they hope to change. It really is a warm,hopeful movie, at least that's the way I saw it.Sometimes we need to take a break and take a deep breath, that's the movie.

I totally agree. There are some parts that I got teary-eyed coz it was just soo touching.

Have you seen the movie? Did you like it?

I have been listening to this song over and over and over again. And again. LOL. I just can't get enough of it. Tender Love by Force MD.

I am not sure when this song came out. But judging on how the singers look like, it seems like it's a couple of decade old song.

Here's the lyrics of the song:

Here I lay all alone
Tossin turning
Longing for some of your, Tender Love
I'm waitin for the right moment to come
So I can thank you for,

All the tender love you've given to me
Oh baby
Tender love (Tender love)
Love so tender
Holdin me close
baby I surrender (oh baby I surrender)
Candles they light the dark,

Now I see how
lovely these feelings are
All the tender love you've given to me
And I want you more and more
(can't resist you)

oh and I feel your touch
Tender love
And your loving me straight from the heart
(hold me nearer)
reasons beyond our love
All the tender love you've given to me
(all of your love, baby)

Tender love (tender love)
Love so tender
Holdin me close
Baby I surrender (baby I surrender)
Tender love (tender love)
Love oh, so tender

Hold me,
Close to you
Girl, I surrender
Tender love (tender love)
Love so tender
Hold me close to you girl
I surrender, baby

Tender love (tender love)
Love so tender, baby
Hold me close
Hold me close
Hold me close to you,

I surrender
Tender love
(tender love)
Tender love
Tender love, give me some of that tender love
Tender love

I must be in Grade 6 when I first heard this song. Loved it since then. It's a very easy-listening song. My sister just posted this on her Facebook timeline and it really reminded me of some fond memories. Not that I had a boyfriend at that age. It was just lovely to listen to the music.

Anyways, here's the song In My Dreams by Reo Speedwagon. Such a cute smile he has. Just pardon the first few seconds.

Just played a wedding song entitled Flightless Bird, American Mouth by Fire and Wine.

I love the melody of the music. It's very danceable. You can easily get carried by its rhythm. I very much care about the lyrics of the song I like to play, especially that I have a tendency to play the song over and over again for hours.... sometimes, for days.

And so, here's the lyrics of the song Flightless Bird, American Mouth.

I was a quick wet boy, diving too deep for coins
All of your street light eyes wide on my plastic toys
Then when the cops closed the fair, I cut my long baby hair
Stole me a dog-eared map and called for you everywhere

Have I found you
Flightless bird, jealous, weeping or lost you, american mouth
Big pill looming


Now I'm a fat house cat
Nursing my sore blunt tongue
Watching the warm poison rats curl through the wide fence cracks
Pissing on magazine photos
Those fishing lures thrown in the cold
And clean blood of Christ mountain stream

Have I found you
Flightless bird, grounded, bleeding or lost you, american mouth
Big pill stuck going down.

It's a very strange song, with seemingly nonsense lyrics but when you dig deeper, the message of the song could be great.

-Twilight Soundtrack-

I was watching the latest Transformers movie, Dark of the Moon and I couldn't help but notice this one hot car. Mercedes Benz SLS AMG.

It was supposed to be a gift for Carley from her boss Dylan (played by Patrick Dempsey) but it turned out to be Soundwave, one of the Decepticons.

Mercedes Benz SLS AMG. Here's the red version of it. It's creamy white in the movie.

I just love its curved gullwing doors which is probably Mercedes SLS AMG's trademark.

Just found out the LOTR crew got to New Zealand to shoot The Hobbit : An Unexpected Journey in June this year.

I saw this video of The Making of The Hobbit : An Unexpected Journey, on Day 1.

I had goosebumps all over. It brings so much Lord of the Rings Trilogy crazy memories. And yes, I think, I am going to get crazy again.

Here's the video of the Day 1 of the making of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey:




The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. Are you excited? Because I know I am. :D

A friend sent us a message. Puss in Boots in One Utama, free tickets, on November 22nd, would we like to watch? Of course we would. I know the kids would love it. The showing will be at 9:30pm but well, the kids don't have classes anymore so it's okay, I suppose.

"Puss in Boots", is a 3D animated adventure film produced by DreamWorks Animation, the makers of the "Shrek" series. Directed by Chris Miller ("Shrek the Third"), and produced by Guillermo del Toro ("Splice", "Blade II", "Pan's Labyrinth"), the feature stars Antonio Banderas as Puss and Salma Hayek as the love interest, Kitty. The film is based on and follows the character of "Puss in Boots" from "Shrek" and his adventures before his first appearance in 2004's "Shrek 2". The prequel's story centers on the swashbuckling cat and how he comes to meet Shrek and his friends, while introducing its colorful new characters.



I am excited to watch Puss in Boots with the kiddos.

Update:

This was us before the premiere of Puss in Boots at 1 Utama. The kids truly had fun with the movie. Heard Samantha laughing a lot! Thanks Bernice for the free passes for the premiere of Puss in Boots the movie at 1 Utama.

And who doesn't like Tom Cruise' Mission Impossible movies? I have seen all and glad to know there is going to be another one coming out soon.

Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol.

When a terrorist bombing destroys the Kremlin, the United States government initiates a black ops "ghost protocol" and disavows the entire Impossible Mission Force. Ethan Hunt and his team are to be blamed for the attack, but are allowed to escape as part of a plan to enable them to operate in the dark, outside of their agency. However, Hunt is warned that if any member of his team is captured during their mission, they will be charged as terrorists planning to incite global nuclear war. Ethan (Tom Cruise) is then forced to work with ex-IMF agent Brandt (Jeremy Renner), who knows more about Hunt and his past than even Hunt himself.

Here's Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol official trailer:



Showtime in Malaysia cinemas of Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol is on December 15, 2011

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

The first book I read (courtesy of my friend Joe Williams) after watching The Fellowship of the Rings, the first in The Lord of the Rings Trilogy was The Hobbit. So when I heard that Peter Jackson was going to do the movie, I was ecstatic.

What's more amazing is that they're filming The Hobbit in 3D. I am quite excited for it to come out... which will be in December 2012. That is quite a long way to go but still...

Also, since The Hobbit is shot in 3D, they're using 48 Red Epic Digital Cameras. I dunn o what it means but it just spells high technology making of the movie The Hobbit.

Here's the scene behing the Making of The Hobbit in 3D:



And so what have I been doing to prepare myself for The Hobbit? I watched The Lord of the Rings Trilogy which I finished watching last night. I bought myself one set of LOTR Trilogy that -of course- includes The Fellowship of the Rings, The Two Towers and The Return of the King... all original and all extended versions. Yeah, I know I spent quite a bit on this trilogy but I am sure it's worth investing and keeping this set. One day, I'm going to watch the trilogy with my kids, when they're ready.

I hope next year, in December 2012, when The Hobbit : An Unexpected Journey comes out, they will be ready to watch it with me.

Synopsis:

First of Peter Jackson's two-part epic fantasy film, adapted from the 1937 J. R. R. Tolkien novel of the same name. "Lord of the Rings" director Jackson returns and also serves as producer and co-writer. "The Hobbit" follows the journey of titular character Bilbo Baggins, who is swept into an epic quest to reclaim the lost Dwarf Kingdom of Erebor, which was long ago conquered by the dragon Smaug. Approached out of the blue by the wizard Gandalf the Grey, Bilbo finds himself joining a company of 13 dwarves led by the legendary warrior, Thorin Oakensheild. Their journey will take them into the Wild; through treacherous lands swarming with Goblins and Orcs, deadly Wargs and Giant Spiders, Shapeshifters and Sorcerers. Although their goal lies to the East and the wastelands of the Lonely Mountain first they must escape the goblin tunnels, where Bilbo meets the creature that will change his life forever - Gollum.

Are you ready to watch The Hobbit : An Unexpected Journey?

It's going to be Manny Pacquiao vs. Juan Manuel Marquez in November this year. In fact, Manny has gone to the US to prepare for his match against Juan Manuel Marquez.

People, are you ready for Manny Pacquiao vs. Juan Manuel Marquez match?

I love facebook. I plead guilty of ending up in facebook when I'm online... and I'm online most of the time. I love the fact that I can get my friends' update. It's the second best thing in the internet. Of course, paid blogging comes first. Who wouldn't disagree?

I love the fact that I can do fun things in facebook, take quizzes and compare results with friends who love taking quizzes as well.

I love the fact that it reconnects long lost friends. I have friends whom I haven't seen for more than 20 years and suddenly asking my permission to be added on my friends' list.

But of course, I love internet as a whole. Too many things to do, too little time. It's a good thing that hubby is not around. I can spend more time searching and surfing the net. Sky's the limit, they say which I believe of course. You can search for just about anything. i.e., insurance online, investment, education, and tips on setting up whatever you wanna set up. Like I said, sky's the limit. When hubby's around of course, I have to limit my time with the computer.

I wanna say again, though... my favorite past time in the internet is to log in to my facebook and blogging.

No, we're not going to Australia (though I wish we are). But I saw the movie Australia by Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman. It was quite an interesting story... like it says a lot about Australia's history... and the tribal people called Aboriginals. I didn't know that they had intermarriages between English and Aboriginals, but the result was mixed. So they were not white, they were not black either... kind of brown. That's where the complications started. But it's not where the story revolved. I'm not gonna tell you the story. Go check it out yourself.

I actually watched the movie from my computer and resulted in strained neck. I watched it from my computer because the DVD didn't wanna work in the dvd player. Nowadays, with the convenience of watching movies from portable players, who would need a big screen? Or who would need tv stands to put the big screen on? I probably would still need them. It's always better to watch dvd movies on TV.

This is the nearest mall at my sister's place in Antipolo, the Sta. Lucia Mall. Everytime I visit her, which is once in two years, we always go to this mall. It's quite huge. The only thing is you get confused because the new building is attached to the old building.

Once when my sister went somewhere else and she asked me to wait at National Bookstore, I went inside thinking that it would be easy for me to find the bookstore. I was wrong. Took me a lot of asking before I got to go to the place.

I liked the National bookstore there. I bought a few things from there in fact. They had a lot of promotional products that were just so irresistible.

I bought a chess board. Yes, from the National Bookstore. Hehehe. I loved playing chess. I was only in Grade 1 when my father started teaching me how to play chess. I actually have gone to places playing chess. Can you believe that?

Now that I have kids my own, I also want to teach them how to play chess. Apparently playing chess can lengthen your attention span and can help a lot with problem solving. I have two more years to wait to teach my boy.

I so wanted to buy the portable DVD player for our trip. I went to shop around for it but realized it's too expensive. So probably I'll buy it next time. Hubby doesn't wanna take our notebook for our trip... for safety reasons. Our movie nights will be on hold then. Or maybe go to the cinema and watch movie there instead. Hehehe. Anyways... we will continue having ovie nights when we get back home... I wonder how much it costs to have tv lifts. It sure would make our movie nights more comfortable... as you can place your TV in different locations... even at the foot of your bed. Well, for now, it's me and hubby without kids and movies. And I am enjoying every minute of it. Not that I am enjoying my time without kids. I am missing them so badly... but this is the only chance Peter and I have after a long long time to travel around without kids.