Christmas has come and gone, and now the new year is upon us. I think overall 2006 was a good year for me. I've had my share of ups and downs but I'm still here so that's always a good sign :) We had a nice cozy christmas. Chus loved his gifts, I'll post pics soon.
So I've been on this Beverly Hills 90210 kick because Rob got me Season 1 for Christmas. I love this show! It's so awful. It makes me wish that I still had my 90210 dolls, yes I had them. I gave them away though :( Back to 90210...I was so obsessed w/ this show in high school. I remember writing notes back and forth w/ my friend Kathy and all we would do is talk about what was going on that week on the show. Such losers! I tell ya. It's 6 discs and I am almost done w/ disc 4! It's so addicting. Season 2 doesn't come out until May of 2007. Whatever shall I do until then???
So aside from watching 90210, I am also juggling watching Charmed Season 2. Do we see a pattern here?
Aside from both being Aaron Spelling shows, they both feature one of my favorite bitches of all time! Shannen Doherty! Ever since she was in Heathers (My favorite movie of all time), I've had such a soft spot for her. Too bad all she does is b-rate reality shows. Makes me love her even more.
Speaking of b-rate, I must also thank my Milwaukee Sister for turning me onto another show starring another ex-90210 alum, Tori Spelling...
Can we talk about how much I love this show??? And how much I love Tori!!!???!!! I know people either hate her or love her. I am of the latter, especially after seeing her in Trick and The House Of Yes. But this show is hilarious!!! It kinda reminds me of Fat Actress in that it's a mock reality show. If anyone knows about making fun of themselves, that would be Tori Spelling. I love all the cracks she takes at herself, the 90210 flashbacks, the childhood flashbacks, and her wicked mother played by Loni Anderson. Trashy!
Plus I think her gay bff (Zachary Quinto) is kinda cute.
My big bday bash is now 2 weeks away! I am so excited. If you don't know I am turning 30 and am having a double Quinceañera. It's gonna be a hoot. I've been working on a fierce playlist for the music, and I know it's going to be a drunken gay ol' time of mostly me and Sista M screaming at the top of our lungs every time one of our childhood fagalicious songs come on :P
So since I am in quince mood, it got me thinking to the one and only time I stood up in one. It was for my friend from grade school. I don't recall much, just that we had to practice outside at the playground @ St. Anthony's and we had this really bitchy closeted choreographer who would always yell at me cause he said I had too much rhythm. Jealous cunty queen! With that said, it reminded me of one of the songs we had to perform a dance to as a group...so I share this campy video w/ you...
Since I am home sick today, I figure I may as well do something constructive, like write on my blog :) It's that time of the year when people compile lists. So here's mine for my fave musical picks of 2006. Now these are in no particular order mind you...
Nelly FurtadoLoose: Now this was a fun album. '06 seemed to be a breakout year for Ms. Furtado. Her debut made a splash, the second one tanked (in the US at least)...but this album was huge, thanks mostly to its infectious lead single Promiscious. A truly electic album that is at many times a throwback to when music was fun (Do It anyone?). I even liked her crappy reggaetón song No hay igual.
FantasiaFantasia: I am not really a huge fan of current R&B, mostly because it's all so cookie cutter. But there are a few exceptions, and this former AI winner is a HUGE one. Not only do I love her raw voice, but I love this album. The newest release on my list, I can't stop listening to it. She's gut-wrenching on the ballads and she knows how to get down like on my personal favorite Hood Boy. That cover has to be one of the most gorgeous I've seen in a long time.
FangoriaEl extraño viaje: Gone is long-time producer Carlos Jean (Thank God!) and for the first time Fangoria tackle producer, and the results are fabulous. In keeping w/ their signature dark electro pop sound, they have also added elements that throw back to their Dinarama days and the results are glorious. If Estés dónde estés is not a single I think Alaska and I need to have a serious conversation.
PinkI'm Not Dead: First off, let me say that I looooooove Pink. I love her quirkiness and her outspokeness. I love her music for that very same reason. While this album is very similar to her previous disc, Try This, it's still a good album w/ some catchy tunes via Pink's kick ass voice. Pink, you rock hard!
BelindaUtopia: Mexico's other teen titan returns w/ one of the most exciting pop albums en español in years. The Spanish language pop market is over saturated w/ wannabe punk rockers or sappy coffee house schmaltz (Reik, Sin Bandera, etc.). While her voice is nothing to write home about, and she kinda looks like a squirel, she's made a hell of an album....who knew?
LeAnn RimesWhatever We Wanna: Is she country or pop? I'd say a little bit of both. While this was supposed to be a "pop album" geared towards the European market (as it has yet to get a US release), it still very much sounds like a country album as the two genres go hand in hand if you ask me. LeAnn proves why she is one of the greatest vocalists to emerge from her generation (in any genre), and she does so on this flawless album. Get it for It Feels Like alone.
Naty BoteroNaty Botero: Colombia's newest pop star is quickly becoming my favorite new act of the year. Fun, fun and more fun on this electic party album via Naty's quirky vocals and tounge in cheek lyrics. Why can't more pop stars be as fun? I hope this gets a worldwide release as it must be heard! NATY...te quiero mucho
TigaSexor: Sexy electo beats from a sexy Canadian boy. While nothing special in the vocal department, what Tiga lacks he makes up for and then some w/ his sexy beats and simple lyrics.
FergieThe Dutchess: Oh Stacy, er Fergie, er Stacy...oh I'm so confused.I've been a huge fave since Wild Orchid and it's so nice to finally see her achieve the success they were never able to obtain. The only reason I ever even bought Black Eyed Peas album was because of Stacy, so it's even nicer to finally hear her solo. Fergie made a fun album of infectious 80s influenced pop/r&b and so forth that can be listened to from start to end. This is the album Gwen Stefani should have made.
Dirtie BlondeDirtie Blonde: Hands down my favorite new act of 2006. Great scratchy vocals and a kick ass band equate a new band to look out for. Seriously this band is a breath of fresh air, here's hoping to an even greater follow up. I hope to see another album, I'd hate for them to fall into the "one album wonder" black hole.
Since 2006 was such a great year for music, there had to have been some bad music...right? Oh yeah. For my worst album of the year I have a 2 way tie. Drumroll please....
Alejandra GuzmánIndeleble: WTF...I am sorry, but this album was B-O-R-I-N-G! It was like one long boring ballad. Where's the fun? Just because Reik and all those sappy groups are hot right now doesn't mean you have to jump on the band wagon.
Paulina RubioAnanda: Were Alejandra and Paulina in cohorts to see who could make a more boring album??? Paulina, you are a trashy artist who makes trashy music. WTF is up w/ this snooze fest of an album??? I've said it before and I will say it again not since EL TIEMPO ES ORO has Paulina made an album this bad. Here's hoping her forthcoming English album will be trash-tastic!
EDIT:
So after I did my best of list I realized I forgot one of my favorite albums of the year!!!!
María Daniela y su Sonido Lasser!!!! Hands down one of the best albums of the year. She's so awful she's good...and she knows it! That's what I love about her, there is no trying to be an artiste if you will...just fun fun fun! Enjoy her video for Miedo. Trust me if you haven't already you will be enamored of this song!
So I am in the midst of my 3 day work vacation :) I had some time to use before the year was up so...here I am using vacation days...and doing NOTHING! It feels great :)
I feel like I haven't written in ages. After my Exposé high it was kinda hard to follow it up. First things first. My ipod died. Just died. I have no idea, but when I went to plug it in, it said I had to restore it and it would erase everything! I had 40 gigs worth of music on there! So I figured if I was going to go through the trouble of ripping my cds all over again (and this time backing the files up) I might as well get a new one.
So let me introduce you to my new ipod. The 80 gig.
I had this horrible feeling that my ipod was going to die during my big birthday bash next month. Well I must have jinxed myself. Whatever...it was time to get a new one.
Friday is the company Xmas party, only it's not being called that. Rather it's being called Employee Appreciation Party. Who cares what it's called, will there be booze??
I have a bunch of new TV shows on DVD to watch. Well new to me. Charmed season 2 and Ghost Whisperer. Plus I can't stop listening to the new Fantasia CD, it's fierce! I love me some Hood Boy!
Plus I can't get over this cover, it's gorgeous!!!!
Wow! Wow! Wow! That is all I can say about last Wed's Exposé show!!!! OMG!!!! OMG!!!! I have not had this much fun at a show in ages. I literally sang along to every song they performed. What a show!!!! This totally makes up for having to wait 17 years to see these gals live. We got there early like nerds. We met up w/ my childhood best friend Carlos and his bf. They were super sweet and it was so nice seeing each other after all these years. Since we were dorks and were in the front, drank and laughed our asses off before the show. But when the lights went down I screamed like a little girl at the top of my lungs. The setlist was a fan's dream come true, not only did they do the obvious hits but they did a lot of more obscure album cuts, and by doing this my girl Ann was able to sing lead on a lot. I can't remember every song but I know I sang along w/ 99.9% of them. Gioia kept pointing me out durning the show because I was singing along to every song :) Off the top of my head they did the following:
Come Go With Me I Wish The Phone Would Ring Angel December Seasons Change What You Don't Know I Know You Know Exposed To Love As Long As I Can Dream Let Me Be The One When I Looked At Him Let Me Be The One I Specialize In Love Your Baby Never Looked Good In Blue Point Of No Return
I could be missing a few, but that's what I can remember. That setlist was heaven, especially when they did my favorite Exposé song of all time, Angel. The show was about an hour and a half and I had a blast. So much so that Gioia even came down to dance w/ me and Carlos! OMG it was so fun!!! Here's a pic, sorry it's a bit blurry, but I just got a new digital camera so I'm still learning to use it.
At one point they were like We're gonna do a disco song, they came up to me and Ann asked me You know this one right? I said I Specialize In Love and they were all like We knew you'd know. LOL.
I danced, screamed, clapped, sang until I had no voice....OMG it was just too much fun.
After the show the ladies did a meet and greet and we were one of the first people in line, and when I got up there Jeanette said I am so glad you were singing along to every song, otherwise I would have forgot the words!. I proceeded to tell them my story about how I'd waiting 17 years to see them and thanked them for making me feel 12 again. They were so nice and I even told Ann that I wished they would have saing Stop, Listen, Look & Think, Gioia then proceeded to sing it a bit and I sang along :) I thanked them so much, I don't even remember what I all said 'cause I was so excited that I must have had diareah of the mouth. LOL. I told Ann that I hope they come to Chicago soon as we had come in for the show. They thanked us told us we were amazing :) I swear I was on a high all night. We then ended up at Bryant's and drank and had a great night.
On a seperate note, I had written a message to Jeanette on myspace before the and never heard back, but this morning I got a message from her asking me how I liked the show :) What a sweetie!
The rest of our time in Milwaukee was nice. Thurs we went over to my old roomie's place for dinner and so our children could finally meet. Chus and Shakespeare! Yay!
We got snowed in so we ended up staying a little longer than we were hoping for, but it was nice to get away from Chicago for a few days. But by the time we got home I couldn't have been happier to be back. Hope everyone's well. Ta-ta for now!
Volver opens in Chicago today...finally!!!!!. I am so excited to go see it, most importantly because it marks the return of my favorite Chica Almodóvar, Carmen Maura!
So it got me thinking...since I am such an Almodóvar fan, what are my top 5 Almodóvar films? Just off the top of my head:
1. Mujeres al borde de un ataque de nervios (Women On The Verge Of A Nervous Breakdown) 2. Pepi, Luci, Bom y otras chicas al montón (Pepi, Luci, Bom and Other Girls on the Heap) 3. La ley del deseo (Law of Desire) 4. La flor de mi secreto (The Flower Of My Secret) 5. Tacones lejanos (High Heels)
If you can't tell I tend to like his 80s films and early 90s. I almost feel like 5 is not enough? I wanted to include 'Kika', 'Atame', 'Entre tineblas' and so forth. I am really looking forward to tonight's showing, I hope he doesn't let me down.
The other day I noticed I had what looked like a cold sore on my lip. I hadn't got one in 2 years! It sucks, it's like the size of a dime! Ok not really but it sure as hell feels like it. I'm not vain or anything, it's just more uncomfortable than anything.
And to think he only paid $2.99 for it!!!! What a crappy mid 90s syndicated TV show! I love it!!! It's so awful and girly, 2 things I just love :) Some of you may recall this was based on the popular series of books of the same name, Sweet Valley High. I never actually read the books. I think it was because I was a little embarrassed, yeah that's shocking but even I had to draw the line somewhere! Though I did read a gazillion Nancy Drew books.
So guess what's going on in 13 days???? The Exposé reunion show!!! I'm so looking forward to this. I am so ready to queen out and scream at the top of my lungs!!! Exposé is my favorite girl group of all time! While I love the many knock-offs (The Cover Girls, Sweet Sensation, Seduction, Pajama Party, etc.), they can't hold a candle to these gals. Did I mention it's a midweek show and I even took days off of work to go???!! But the best part is that we get to go to Bryant's afterwards! If there is one thing from Milwaukee that I could bring to Chicago it would be Bryan'ts, my favorite bar ever!!! I'm also looking forward to seeing my cousins, and not to mention the fact that I'm also going to be meeting my childhood best friend up at the show, whom I haven't seen in probably 10+ years.
I'm headed off tonight to look at a few places to see about having my bday bash at. Wish me luck. January is approaching sooner than we think!!!!!
Friday I went w/ my Milwaukee Sister to watch her man perform w/ his dance troupe, Luna Negra. It was a great show and as usual the Sistas M had a blast. You think we were two 12 year old girls the way we can't stop giggling. As always it was a joy to hang out w/ you my sistah!
So Saturday I finally got around to painting the living room! I found these funky pillows the last time my mom was in town and knew I had to decorate around them. This was the result:
If I must say so, it looks hot! Maybe it's time for a change in careers. It's my inner interior designer...or I'm just that gay. Yeah, like I even have to think about that one! LOL.
We had a nice dinner last night @ Puebla and got tipsy on margaritas. We ended up at Circuit afterwards. It was nice. I'm still working on a locale for my infamous upcoming bday bash. Wish me luck.
Thanks again to everyone who was concerned for our baby Chus. He had his stitches out last Saturday and seems to be doing fine. Like I said earlier we are just awaiting some final lab results to see what cause the stone, etc. Otherwise he's being super hyper and active as usual. I've even noticed he's being more playful w/ other dogs. Something that he sometimes tends to shy away from. I am so glad my baby is back to normal :) Poor thing's had one too many operations already. Santa needs to bring him something extra special this year :) Even if he's a spoiled brat!!! Any ideas?? Last year he got his very own cabbage patch kid doll (we named her ginger as she's a redhead)...but the poor thing looks like chaka khan now! Miss thing got a fro'!!!!!
So I tittled this post TQM, in honor of my new favorite song. It's called Te quiero mucho and is by a new singer from Columbia named Naty Botero. Rob was like She sounds like a trashy version of Bebé! Hey I love trashy!!! Anyhoo check out her official myspace page. Chava was unable to find it at mixup, maybe next time? I think you'd like her, she's fabulous! While I'm at it thank you so much Chava for getting me my CDs while you were in Mexico. Though they have yet to arrive, I thought I'd publically thank you! I love you hard!!!!! Sorry to veer, enough with my ranting and raving...here is the video which is trash-tastic!!!!!
Tonight I am going w/ my Sista M to see his man dance. It's about fucking time I get to meet him. He has to meet the Sista M requirements.
My friend from work took this pic from the Belanovaconcert @ the Green Dolphin. I enjoyed the show, but I agree w/ Eddie on a lot of his complaints, I have to say I did enjoy their performance. My biggest complaint though was the crowd. I don't think half of those people even heard a Belanova song before. What a shame. Pun intended.
Can we just take a moment and talk about how friggin' hot Joey Lawrence is??? I know Mario López is also on Dancing With The Stars, but I just can't over Joey!!! He's always been hot, and even I can even get past his Humboldt Park eyebrows, but my god is his body hot! Holy shit, his ass could feed a third world country it's so juicy! Damn! Someone bring me some ice to cool me down...
This has to be one of the funniest clips I've ever seen. One of my favorite childhood divas praying for Sister Whitney. Gurlfriend....I think it's working!
Quick post. A photo from Friday's work Halloween activities. I was a white trash Joe Boxer model. My coworker was a white trash Hanes model (sexually confused at that)...
Greetings earthlings. Yes I'm alive. Just been busy and really haven't had a chance to post in awhile. Thanks to everyone that's been asking about chus. He's doing really well. Still awaiting some final results from the Vet, but keep your fingers crossed that everything goes well. He gets his stitches out Sat. I am sure he'll be thrilled because he's currently sporting this contraption until they come out:
In other news we didn't end up getting dolled up for halloween. But we did go out Sat w/ Jorgillo & RDDP and had a blast. I woke up w/ a hangover the next day. I didn't even drink that much but the combination of different liquors didn't help.
So it's already November and I'm already freaking out because I have yet to find a hall to have my 30th birthday party. It's a little over 2 months away, so wish me luck in finding a proper venue :)
I've been spending what little free time I have transferring videos to my computer. I have so many to go through still! I did however upload a clip of Alaska when she was on Desde Gayola:
Speaking of Alaska, apparently they announced that Fangoria will be performing at Circuit. When? I have no idea. Don't worry I'll find out more info.
While I await Chava's trip to mixup, I couldn't stand it any longer and am listening to the new Fangoria album El extraño viaje. I'm barely on track 2...so until next time!
Thursday evening we noticed that Chus wasn't acting right. Around 1am we took him to the animal ER to find out that he had a stone in his bladder and it was causing his bladder to back up w/ urine. At 4am we took him out to the burbs to a specialty clinic (which incidently is the same clinic that operated on him last year) because he had to have an emergency operation to remove the stone. It is now Saturday afternoon and he is safe and sound home w/ us again :) Poor thing was really scared, but my little guy is a survivor and he should be all better very soon. He's on meds, and in 2 weeks can have his stitches removed.
I don't know if any of you are pet owners (or even parents for that matter) but the stress that one goes through when these type of emergencies occur is really overwhelming. Even though I was up til 6am Friday, I couldn't really sleep until I knew that he was out of harm's way. I don't think I properly slept until maybe 3pm in the afternoon.
The scary thing about this is that it just appears out of nowhere. It's not there are any symptoms. Scary stuff. But thanks to those of you who sent your kind words and prayers. Please keep him in your thoughts and prayers.
After months and months we finally get word that Belanova is finally coming to Chicago! Yay! They are playing Sunday, November 5 @ the Green Dolphin. The only downfall is it's going to be one of those Sólo con invitación events that Miller sponsors. Luckily for me I was able to score a ticket (as did. Rob and my Milwaukee Sister).
If you want to try your luck try the following 2 websites: enchufate.net or millerenchicago.com. The only downfall is that lord knows how many actual fans will really win tickets. Hopefully it's not all full of nacos or reggaetón skanks.
I am still having fun w/ my new toy, and last night I ripped this video as it's from one of my fave one-album-wonder acts :)
Had a busy weekend as my Mom came into town and we spent all day Sat shopping. I'm pooped!! Since we got our new computer I decided to treat myself to something I've ALWAYS WANTED. I purchased a converter to transfer video to my computer!!! OMG it is the coolest thing I have EVER bought. I was up until 2am and I barely got through a tape or two. I have tons of old video clips, performances, etc. from my loser teen years. LOL! So I share w/ you one of my treasures. The following is the video for Duri Duri by obscure Mexican girl group Click:
The other day I guestimated that my CD collection is now at 2,000+. It might sound like a lot to some people, but I know others who own more. As digital music becames more popular, I still can't bring myself to settle for a mere mp3. I will buy the occasional remix on itunes, but I can't bring myself to buy an entire album. It just seems like an overpriced burned cd. Anyhoo that really isn't the point of my post.
About a month agao I joined Costco and when we were there I noticed that they had Christina Aguilera's latest in a longbox!!!!
Some of you might be too young to remember when CDs came in longboxes. Up until 1993 CDs were sold in longboxes. I know they stopped doing them because they were not environmentally friendly, blah blah. But I miss them! They were so cool! It was like getting a free poster w/ every cd I bought back then:
The odd thing was that any Spanish language CDs came in long plastic cases, and not the fancy cardboard boxes of their english counterparts.
Since I am on the subject of CDs, I have to tell you all about my latest obsession! Lala.com!!! Basically what it is a website where you can trade unwanted cds for ones you want. And to top it off it only costs $1 per cd (there's a 75¢ shipping fee and they provide the shipping materials). Now I sound like an informercial, but it's really cool and I've gotten rid of some CDs I no longer deemed worthy (besides I knew I wouldn't get more than a few $$ on ebay, so I may as well get another CD in exchange). So far I've gotten about 6 CDs and have been able to complete some of missing artists collections (so far mainly Jody Watley, Roxette, Kd Lang, etc.). It's great for CDs you want, but wouldn't necessarily go out of your way to purchase.
Guess what? We got our new mac! Yay! It's a 20" imac and it rocks my world!
We already set it up and now we can actually use our office space that we've been ignorning for so long! Yay!
So while I was browsing on youtube, I came across this video:
In 1992 when I was 15 and was relearning Spanish, I also discovered pop music en español. I would watch Siempre en domingo every Sunday to see who was on and discover new music (well new for me). Anyhoo one of them was the above song, Justo en el momento by one of my now eternal favorites Sasha Sökol :) I've never seen this video and since I know some of you are fans *cough chava cough* I just thought I'd share.
OMG it's so awful, but I can't stop watching it! The acting is so bad, the story lines are "supposedly" based on true stories, but they are just hilarious. It's so bad I can't help but watch it whenever it's on! The actors that are on there are beyond D-list. But some of those boys are hot! And there's even gay story lines here and there! I love it hard!
In totally unrelated news, for some reason I have been on this huge Roxette kick lately. They were huge in the late 80s and early 90s. Believe it or not I never owned any of their stuff back then! Shocking I know. I didn't ever buy my first Roxette CD until returning from Spain in 1999 and hearing Wish I Could Fly constantly and immediately falling in love w/ that song. Don't know why I brought this up, but I just wanted to say how much I am liking them and how much I adore Marie Fredriksson's voice. So with that said I leave you w/ one of my fave Roxette songs, the afore mentioned Wish I Could Fly:
Maybe it's because this box set is coming out very soon...must have resparked my interest.
So I've been on this Beverly Hills 90210 kick because Rob got me Season 1 for Christmas. I love this show! It's so awful. It makes me wish that I still had my 90210 dolls, yes I had them. I gave them away though :( Back to 90210...I was so obsessed w/ this show in high school. I remember writing notes back and forth w/ my friend Kathy and all we would do is talk about what was going on that week on the show. Such losers! I tell ya. It's 6 discs and I am almost done w/ disc 4! It's so addicting. Season 2 doesn't come out until May of 2007. Whatever shall I do until then???
