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We Want to Know Wednesday – Musical talent edition

Nov 162011

Man, this week sure is flying at the speed of light. Didn’t realize I’ve been MIA since the weekend but look, it’s hump day. Yeah, I know I could take the easy way out, grab a random picture and play Wordless Wednesday but I love the cool questions that Queso, Mamarazzi and Crazymama have on WWKW every week.

1. Do you have any musical talents?

I’d certainly like to think so. Have to confess I’m a guitar and piano dropout but I love to ~~sing~~ bawl out loud.

2. What role, if any, does music have in your life?

I have a song for every occasion. Oftentimes I find myself answering my kids (or anyone else who’d care to listen) in song. I don’t do it on purpose, it’s just a sort of reflex. I also tend to associate certain songs with certain events in my life. Whenever I hear those songs, I get transported back to that moment in time.

3. What is your all time favorite song?

Love the movie, love the song.

4. Do you sing in the shower?

I used to but then I noticed my neighbors starting to move out one by one. I’ve since taken my live concerts into my car. It’s the only way I get to perform in front of an ~~captive~~ audience.

5. Has a song ever made you cry?

Yup, hopeless romantic that I am .

A treasure trove of music

Posted by Clairity Comments Off

Nov 022011

With a houseful of teens, it’s hard to imagine a day without music blasting out of someone’s phone or computer or whatever plays music. So it goes without saying that music is a really big part of our daily lives. Listening to it, of course. Not making it because if you recall my 2 girls are guitar dropouts !

With the music appetite of 3 teens to feed, I obviously have to make sure their music purchases don’t bust my monthly budget. Being teens can be very resourceful when it comes to getting what they want so I wasn’t surprised when they found this great site where they can buy music for as little as $1 per download.

Well, for such affordable download at MP3Mixx, they can use their allowances to download all the alternative music or whatever their favorite or most ‘in’ music they want. I mean, it’s really much less expensive than I thought music downloads were. So I’m generally okay with that.

I remember as a teen, I loved listening to music but back then, I could only hear my favorite songs when they were played on radio. Kids these days are so lucky they get to build a collection of their favorite songs and listen to them over and over. I wish they had music downloads back in my time .

Anyhow back to this site at MP3Mixx, I had a look at it and I’m impressed with their practically endless collection of music choices. They even have the top music charts for the US, UK and EU. Indeed the selection is endless with 250,000 albums and 5 million tracks from 50,000 artists.

To be honest, I’ve never been to a music download site. But I usually make it a point to check out sites that interest my kids, just to make sure everything is above board. I have to say I was pretty impressed at how easy it is to navigate, even for a dinosaur like me.

Believe it or now, I even spotted songs by Lionel Richie and the Commodores which means they have something for Mom too. OMG, imagine that! I’m a huge fan of 80′s music and I cannot believe they’ve got my favorite songs too.

Seems like my kids aren’t the only one heading over there for their music downloads now. Guess I lucked out by checking out the site. I’m definitely checking back to see what songs they have for me .

Tick tock, the biological clock

Posted by Clairity 16 Responses »

Sep 082011

Stuck at home with the sniffles last weekend, the girls and I cuddled up for several movie nights and one of the movies we watched was The Switch. Okay, I had no idea Jason Bateman was still acting but hey guy, you’re still pretty hot! This is where my girls start grimacing and contorting their faces at their Mom’s choice of cute.

Never mind, on with the show. So Kassie (Jennifer Aniston) wakes up one morning to the loud ticking of her biological clock and decides she must have a kid. So the hunt for a sperm donor begins and she finally settles on Roland, an overly energetic and enthusiastic guy who would probably be out trying to tame a set of maxxim custom wheels as soon as he runs out of rocks to climb.

At the insemination party (harhar!), Kassie’s BFF, Wally (Jason Bateman) inadvertently switches Roland’s ingredients with his own. I’m not going to give too much away here in case you haven’t watched the movie.

Fast forward 7 years and Kassie returns to town with her son, Sebastian, who not only hits it off with Wally but also bears an uncanny resemblance, characterwise, to the man. And as parents, we all know how it thrills us to catch nuances of ourselves in our kids .

So what did I think of the movie? Loved it. Would watch it again.

Watched it? Watch it again? What do you think?

Spiders up our legs

Posted by Clairity 6 Responses »

Jun 082011

Back in December, on New Year’s Eve to be exact, the kids and I were at Universal Studios Hollywood. Being that we’re a movie freak family, there’s no better treat than actually being at the original theme park itself.

Universal Studios Hollywood is an actual working movie studio which means that even as we were riding the tram on the Studio Tour of the 400+ acres of the park, there was actual filming going on in some of the movie sets and sound stages. Which is pretty exciting because, I mean, who knows who you might just bump into?

Raine missed the larger-than-life King Kong we saw on the tour the last time we were at Universal Studios. She was 3 years old then and still remembers how much she loved it when King Kong opened his mouth and let out the sweet scent of strawberry! Anyone remember that part of the tour? It’s been replaced by King Kong in 4D now, of course.

The Bates Motel where they filmed Psycho is still there and spooky as ever . We also made an extended tour of Wisteria Lane where Desperate Housewives is filmed (man, I would never have guessed those weren’t real houses!), and watched the cars used in Fast and Furious do some pretty fast action. Great stuff.

And until today, we’re still talking about Shrek in 4D – how we jumped when spiders crawled up our legs, how we loved having water squirted in our faces and being tossed about in our seats. Man, you gotta love 4D!!

Barring the standing in line for over an hour to get in, during which we almost fell asleep on our feet, the experience was well worth it. We would’ve gone another round if the lines weren’t so crazy long.

What’s your favorite memory of Universal Studios, or your favorite theme park? Will you be visiting any theme parks this summer?

Doin’ the Fast Five

Posted by Clairity 2 Responses »

May 232011

We got free tickets to go watch Fast Five. Yay us! Dream come true. Have you ever known us to say no to free movie tickets?

I didn’t think so.

Fast Five takes off where Fast and Furious 4 left off with Dom Toretto (Vin Diesel) marching off to jail. Now Brian O’Connor (Paul Walker) and Mia Toretto (Jordana Brewster) bust him out of jail and they all end up on the wrong side of the law.

So, right! Where was I before the power to the whole street got cut without warning? I mean, if you wanted to fix the cables, couldn’t you just have told us ahead of time?

Anyhow, this is the sequel that brings back all the characters from the previous 4 shows. What that means is that I’m going to have to watch them all again to get the whole picture. Not a problem there since we’re nuts about Paul Walker (can you feel the temperature rising in here?) and Vin Diesel’s cute smile. ’nuff said!

Oh, and there’s Lt Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson). He was the funniest. I mean, his character isn’t supposed to be funny, but there’s something about him that looks like he’s been run through a body acne wash and then dipped in a bucket of oil that makes him look almost… too funny.

Okay, I don’t want to spoil the fun for you. Suffice to say, there’s tons of amazing chase sequences (not just of cars, mind you!) from start to finish. Go watch it yourself and tell me what you think. If you like fast cars and heart-stopping excitement, you’re so gonna love it as much as we did. Oh, and be sure you stick around after the movie credits at the end because there’s more!

Learn Something New Tuesday

Posted by Clairity 6 Responses »

Apr 192011

Every now and again, I come across a meme with questions that are close to my heart. So here goes…

1. Are you annoyed by people who don’t type correctly?

Yup but only because I’m pretty critical of myself too. I’m uber particular about speaking and writing properly. I think it has paid off though. All my 3 kids are prolific writers and confident public speakers.

2. Are you a grammar freak?

Afraid so. You’re looking at the resident grammar police.

3. Do you love the popcorn at movie theatres?

Gotta have it! I think there’s a reason they always have that popcorn aroma wafting out at you once you step in.

4. Where is the best place to go buy pizza?

That Italian restaurant on the right side as you walk into Downtown Disney, Anaheim – sorry, can’t remember the name.

5. What was the last award you received?

No idea. Do I even qualify for one? Hmmm.

6. Are you a beach person or a mountain person?

Beach but I don’t like the sun but at least there’s cute blond beach bums to check out. That’s 2 ‘buts’ in one sentence. Hey, where’s the grammar police?