Entertainment | Hip to be Mom

Of course, we went to watch The Avengers. Did you really think we were going to miss it? For a coupla weeks, we’ve all been holding onto our toenails waiting for it. Man, how long has it been since we were at the movies again? Too long, chorus my two movie buffs. Think it’s been like over a year.

Okay, The Avengers. Well, the plot is simple. It’s the sort of good guys teaming up against One Major Bad Guy movie that the 10-year-old in me loves. We love Iron Man (snazzy geekery and Pepper Potts) and Captain America (6-pack and all!). But that’s pretty much all I’m going to say about the movie. I don’t want to spoil it for you guys who haven’t seen it yet.

So yes, we loved The Avengers. In a world of hypocrites, leeches and piranhas, we sure could use a couple of hours of superheroes. And the fact that our cushy Gold Class movie tickets fell from the sky and came with free popcorn, Coke and these…

Woah, at 18 and 16, you would think my lovely teens are long done with toys. But you should’ve seen the giant grins on their faces when they were handed these 5 mini muggs (as they are called?) and since then, The Avengers have been making surprise appearances on my desk, my dresser, my dashboard …

Here’s Thor, in my kitchen, keeping an eye on our Bratwurst sausages. Don’t anyone move or I’ll hammer your fingers to a pulp, heh heh heh!!

It’s a great movie to bring the whole family. Lots of action. A plot that’s simple enough even for kids to understand. The girls and I may just go watch it again. Have you watched it yet? If so, what do you think?

If I ever said I was hooked on The Voice, well, I’m so over that now. Dancing With The Stars is back and that’s where I’m at. This is the first season I’m actually watching from the beginning. Last season, I only found out mid-season that Nancy Grace was on (have I been living under a rock? seriously!) and went to have a peek.

I got hooked right there. I’m a big fan of Nancy Grace’s. Maybe I see a little of her snarkiness and outspokenness in myself. Maybe a part of me wishes I’d gone to law school. But that’s a story for another day .

Nancy’s pro dancing partner last season was Tristan McManus and they made a really cute pair. He seems like such a regular nice guy. Totally adorable, Irish accent and all . He’s back this season with Gladys Knight and I’m officially a MacManiac.

This has been a particularly hard week. The music was rather weird, at least to me. I was sad Jack Wagner had to go home last week and now Sherri Sheperd. They clearly can dance (better than some). He’s so funny, she’s so bubbly and they both have super positive outlook but sadly didn’t garner enough votes to stay in the game.

Gavin Degraw, never heard of him before this but my girls like his songs, and omg, that smile is so adorable, so okay, we’ll go with Gavin. Gladys Knight, I really admire folks who don’t let their age limit what they can and cannot do, and she has such a great attitude about this.

So that leaves me wishing, darn, if I could dance like that! With 2 left feet, I guess I can only dream. If you need me, you know where to find me Monday nights!

Hooked on The Voice

Posted by Clairity Comments Off

Mar 012012

So now we’re hooked on The Voice. Steev was joking with his sisters that his roommate is a diehard fan and never misses an episode. And the girls just picked it up from there and started watching it. Now I’ve joined them and I have to admit it isn’t hard to get hooked .

Here’s why. I love singing. I was a piano dropout back in the day and I couldn’t tell you what yamaha mixers are for the life of me. But I love to sing… and I love Christina Aguilera. She’s so bubbly and cute, and the fact that she openly admits to loving her curves, now that’s cool! And that voice of hers – amazing!

The girls, well, they love Adam Levine, of course, though I think he’s a little skinny . So between Jack Spratt who would eat no fat and his wife who would eat no lean, there’s the 3 of us glued to The Voice cheering loudly away. The elimination rounds are going to be exciting. Can’t wait!

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 .

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 .