Kids These Days...

A couple of days ago my friend sent me this song, which I've listened to quite a few times now and highly recommend :)

It sounds like a fusion between Amy Winehouse, Duffy, Adele... and it's good!

Pixie Lott has so much potential and is singing her way to fame, supporting the Saturdays on tour, and will certainly keep ruling the music scene in the future... And she's only 18!! Wow! Amazing!

And then... Lady GaGa is just one year older than me! (Okay, that doesn't quite go with the title of this post, but still). So here's how Canada wished her a happy birthday in March 2009... (overpowering, eh?:)


Now that's the moment when I sit and wonder what I'm doing with my life... well... I'll let you know if something as epic happens, but I can probably assure you that I won't be rising on the pop music scene for now... :)

Do You Know Your Enemy?

Even if you think you do, listen to what Green Day have to say about it...

AWESOME (addicting, too!)

Is Rupert Going on Stage (5)?

Back in 2007, Britain had talent in the face (snout?) of a cutesy pig named Rupert.


Today, if Rupert took a trip to Egypt, he'd be burned alive... he'll also get dirty looks and people shouting and running away from him all-panicky!

In one day, the world went from fearful of a pandemic to an official Stage 5 virus spread announced by the WHO (who the f*ck is Alice?**). Aaaaaah, we're all going to die!! Call Obama, he'll save us on his 100th day in Office... or not.

Again, let me assure you, this whole thing is one pan-pig-paranoia! And I'm sick (haha, what a pun)of hearing about this deadly new virus. We are not going to perish, I repeat, we are not going to perish! Only 300 000 innocent pigs will die in Egypt. Life is cruel, no?

**What started as a silly pun about Alice actually turned out to be a successful youtube video search. Alice is a piglet, too, who can .. wind around a table leg.. and she was also 'active' in 2007. 2007 was a good year to be a pig. Hahaha, well no wonder, 2007 was the Year of the Pig, duh.

(Imagine what those dogs are thinking while watching this degrading fiasco... lol)

Have a Break...

Have a £1000... plus Girls Aloud stylist Frank Strachan at your service, absolutely FREE***! ***All you have to do is eat tons of KitKat! Does anyone see a problem with such an amazingly tempting offer? No? Me neither! In fact, I might go 'round to the ole' corner shoppe and buy me some KitKat Senses, send in a code and win (cause all those competitions are always legit, right, and once you've one.. once.. you think you're gonna win every time.. or something of that sort). Watch the promo video and count how many KitKat bars get eaten during the ad.

And you enjoyed listening to those accents, didn't you? :)

It's Amazing...

Yes, yes, yes, we knoooow, dearest Kanye, that you are the brightest star in the universe, the most amazing person alive, apparently the spirit of the Earth... all hail thee, almighty Kanye, but... do you like fishsticks? (blame South Park).

It's okay, we still love you! Or... your music at least... :)

(I understand it's an old song, give me a break!:)

Something Swiney This Way Twits...

After seeing it on this hilarious blog, I had to sort of borrow the idea and do a twit-related post (as, apparently, I'm getting slightly addicted to Twitter as we speak).

Reality:


Fiction:

(original cartoon here)

... or is it...?

Something Swiney This Way Comes...

Okay, just to make it clear, swine flu has officially been blown out of proportion. WHO claims we're getting closer to a pandemic because (hold your breath!) the first death outside of Mexico was reported! Before your heart stops, it was a 23-MONTH OLD BABY that died, plus the kid was Mexican and was visiting Mexico and caught the flu and it obviously wasn't treated on time... so there. Kids have weaker immune systems, hello! It frustrates me so much how the media spread the news about the flu faster than the flu itself!

Let me give you an example. Yesterday I did a Google search of the term swine flu. It returned around 73,000,000 hits!! You think that's bad? Today, doing the same search, it returned 245,000,000 hits. WTF! Narrowing the search term by adding quotation marks "swine flu" returned 83,500,000 results. Still... disturbing, don't you think?

Hold your horses! I think Google has gone wacko. It started giving me very, very random hit numbers. They change by the second and by change, I mean by several million... Hmmm... Observe.

"swine flu" - 3.3 million hits


Just swine flu- 6 million hits


Just swine flu again, like, 32 seconds later - 168 MILLION HITS


The numbers I had mentioned before the pictures were also true, I just wanted to include images as proof :)

In comparison, AIDS results have been at a constant 123 million since yesterday. At least that we know with certainty.


So please try and understand that this whole swine virus (which will now cordially be renamed the N1H1 virus because otherwise it's offensive to pigs everywhere) is an out-of-proportion media horror campaign or something. YOU'RE NOT GOING TO DIE OF SWINE FLU! THE HUMAN RACE WILL NOT BE ERADICATED BY THAT N1H1 VIRUS! Plus, it's already a well-known fact that the world will end in 2012 as that's when the Mayan calendar ends... so what's the rush, we're all going to perish in 3 years anyway, swine or no swine.

God, do we really need to rise global panic levels now? Doesn't the world have enough problems already?! Forget the flu, stop being paranoid and just go out there and live your life!!!! NOW!!!!

(And in case you were wondering, the unfortunate Yahoo ad about a trip to Mexico placed right next to the swine flu news has now been updated... forget Mexico - go to Guatemala for the study! Right...)

All the Married Ladies...

Don't you just love how there's EVERYTHING in the online world... just type any random old phrase and you'll get results. So here's a different, slightly disturbing (in whatever sense you decide, really) take on Beyonce's song. Don't wait around, put your mops up!



Yes, on a note of ANYTHING being available online, how about possibly the most pointless or awkwardly fascinating blog on the planet: Secret Lives of Traffic Cones/ Who would have thought that traffic cones hid so many secrets? And, oh, how everyone is trying to find a place under the sun, sometimes in rather unimaginable ways...

All the Single Ladies...

... on Piccadilly Circus!!! AH! Why is it that I always miss those random dancing-in-the-street events?! How come I'm never there when the cool stuff's happening!? :( All I've seen is U2 on the roof of the BBC... now, how much of a loser does that make me?

That reminds me of how upset I was for missing the T-Mobile Life's for Sharing Dance! At least for that one, my excuse was that I was still in BG, but now I had no excuse to miss the single ladies... Anyway, let's remember the sheer awesomeness of the T-Mobile dance - all who know the moves, join in!

Girls Out of Control

Something kinda Oooh hit the O2 yesterday and I just happened to impulsively buy a ticket to the Girls Aloud concert 3 hours before the event. And, boy, am I glad I did that! It was one heck of a show, complete with dancing, hotness, fire, wind, flying around (not exactly a-la David Copperfield), singing, more dancing, waving your hands in the air, shouting like you just don't care and other stuff of that general sort. I was particularly glad to 'sing' along to 'Promise', 'The Loving Kind', 'I Can't Speak French', 'Call the Shots', 'Something Kinda Ooh' and pretty much any other song/cover I knew the lyrics to! (Including 'Womanizer', among others). Well, without further ado, here are some pics from the pop event:















You know, whoever said going to concerts by yourself is boring obviously hasn't been to a concert by him/herself... It's as entertaining as can be! Or maybe that's just my experience? Eh, either way, I LOVE IT!

No Viva Mexico...

As the world faces a new potential-but-highly-unlikely pandemic of a mutated swine virus which is transmitted from human to human and highly contagious, that originated in Mexico and has already spread towards Texas... Yahoo decides to advertise trips to Mexico for scientific research. Irony? Or a REALLY bad advertising campaign? Here's a screenshot of my Yahoo mail which shows what a bad idea it is to post worrisome news headlines and travel advertisements on the same page...

Dime Pieces

According to Urban Dictionary, a dime piece is an extremely beautiful woman.

According to Lilana and 'Big Sha' this is nice chance to sing a somewhat un-catchy tune with Snoop Doggy Dawg... Big Sha, that's none other than Misho Shamara! While I like the beat of the song, most of the .. singing.. and lyrics and all that doesn't rock my sock(s). But kudos for pairing up with the Big Dog!!! (Also, is it just me, or is Lilana pulling a 'Kylie' on all of us with that black-and-white hoodie outfit thing?)


In an unrelated story, another song by the name of Dime Piece, only from a few years ago and certainly not done in a multicultural collaboration between Bulgarians and Snoopy. You decide which one worked out better. I'd still vote for number 1 though, comparatively.

Most Creepy Video Award...

... goes toooo TOOL.

Ten minutes of psycho-freakish-disturbing-creepy-beyond-all-reason-images... It's.. not for the faint-hearted. Well, maybe it's not that bad, but it sure shocked me with its philosophical psycho-weird nature.

Положението е... чайка? :)

Очевидно най–сериозният проблем на британските градове в момента са чайките. Много пречили и шумели... на мен пък са ми симпатични, особено тлъстите лондонски чайки, които отвреме навреме прелитат над Ърлс Корт. Симпатяги... но май единствена си го мисля това...

В Англия обявяват война на чайките

Британски депутат призова за мерки за контрол на увеличаващия се брой чайки в градовете, където те представляват сериозен проблем за гражданите, туристите и бизнеса, съобщава Би Би Си.

Дон Фостър, който е представител на либералдемократите от град Бат, ще използва отложен дебат в парламента, за да призове министрите да погледнат на въпроса сериозно.

Фостър заяви, че чайките са "антисоциални, шумни и в някои случаи агресивни".

Министерството на околната среда отбеляза, че местните органи имат правомощия да вземат мерки срещу чайките и призоваха хората да не ги хранят.

Чайките са сред птиците, които могат да бъдат убивани от упълномощени за това лица. при условие че останалите методи за борба с тях са неефективни или непрактични, пояснява Би Би Си.

Общините харчат все повече средства за справяне с проблема без особени резултати.

Сред методите са покриване на покривите с мрежа, за да не могат чайките да правят гнезда; замяна на яйцата им с камъни с подобен цвят или използване на ястреби, които да ги прогонват.

Ето например снимка на спесимен от сем. Чайковидни/Гларусовидни от едно наше пътуване до о. Тасос.

Why I love Google Chrome...

Have you ever received a more precious message from your internet browser? :)

lollig

Dutch word of the day, as defined by Wiktionary:

Adjective
lollig, lollige
funny, jolly

Example:
Jij hebt een lollig hoofd.
You’ve got a funny head.

Hahaha, that's such a lollig example! :D

DeFaced

On April 23, 2009, at approximately 5:14p.m., I deactivated my Facebook profile. *GASP, NOOO, THE END OF THE WORLD IS NEAR!*

Temporarily, as an experiment of sorts. I'll see how my life will be without any Facebook influences in it - without the constant snooping around into other people's business, installing pointless applications, and wasting tons of precious hours on the ... hmm, rather ugly (especially as of recently) website; it will also be a time away from quite a few friends with whom I had a convenient contact method, and a time away from the closely knit Facebook community.

This is also where the second bit of my experiment comes in: I'll see how people on Facebook deal with the loss of a member of that community... I mean, 'virtual loss'; let's not go to a 'physical' loss yet, please :) So it's going to be an entertaining little experiment. :)

I've been off Facebook for nearly 6 hours now. Yippee! :P No withdrawal symptoms yet. Hahaha, ridiculous, isn't it? Silly, silly worldwide addictions... Sigh... I sometimes wonder how I allow myself to be part of that - but hey, I'm up for a change now ;) Bring it on!

As per tradition, here's a Facebook song! :)

Rhythm of the Day

My random obsession for the day is this already oldish song :)


That's all. Adios.

Es war um 1780 und es war in Wien...

This song was possibly the creepiest song I'd heard - back when I was really, really young, around 3 years old. My parents brought me some VHS tapes from Austria with Disney cartoons and an introductory part about Vienna - with that song playing in the background. Ha, for some reason all I can remember is the song being really scary, I have no idea why :)


Funny, when we celebrated New Year's (or Sylvester) in Vienna in 2006/7 I think, we were out in front of the Rathaus there, enjoying a cool concert, public waltzing, and fireworks. Some band actually performed the classic Falco tune, only told the story of a little Dachshund which died from over-eating with sausages.. haha, get it, sausage-dog eating too many sausages? Oh... yea.. priceless, right? Either way, it's a cool song and I'm not afraid of it any more! :)

***

So apparently I'm dedicating this post to songs which scared me when I was little. I should certainly include:


That one gave me the creeps for the longest time! I really don't know why... But for some reason when I was listening to it, my fragile little brain was imagining horrible things like ghosts and skeletons and murder.. go figure hahaha. Totally f*ed up. Why? Noooo clue. It was just one of those songs that scarred me for life :)

***

Aaaand of course, this one:


Right, at least with that one I actually have an explanation as to why I found it creepy. (whereas with all other songs here it's some sort of freakishly irrational fear) This song was a hit when I was 7-8ish. Back in the day, we used to go to Sozopol, a town by the Black Sea, where my parents worked on the Apolonia Art Festival. I loved Sozopol - it was a quaint little town with tons of markets, cheap toys, and bootleg videos yeah! Also, there was a guy holding a live python in downtown Sozopol - you could take a picture with the snake and all that, but I never got to do it :( ... Sozopol by night was a whole different story, though! One part of the town in particular was so frightening to me that I had to close my eyes when passing by it - the old Roman bath ruins (I think that's what those were). The ruins are in a pretty popular area of the old town, so we would go there quite a bit. I had no problem with the ruins until the dreadful day when a colleague of my parents' told me there were skeletons in there that came out at night and kidnapped children. Who comes up with crap like that?! I've never liked the idea of skeletons chasing me, so naturally I was scared out of my mind. Despite that, my parents and I would always go hang out at this cafe right by the ruins, in the evening, when the '7 Seconds' song would loop almost infinitely! AH! Since then, I associate the song with the skeletons and ruins at Sozopol. Hence it's a creepy song.

***

To finish off this rather retro post, I'll include two songs which I absolutely loved!!! :D


Zucchero. We had a Zucchero tape that we listened to ALL the time in our car, all through the 90's :) Especially when we went skiing... This particular song - a very entertaining song to sing along to - was my favorite. The part where he sings 'Single man, single man, desperado' can be included in the list of most misinterpreted lyrics in the history of song-writing - by me, at least. All I know is that I was shouting 'Sirene, sirene' (Bulgarian for 'Cheese, cheese') at the top of my lungs when the song was on... Talk about high IQ, right? :) As soon as I learned a decent amount of English and listened to the song again, I sank to the ground when my childhood interpretation of the lyrics was killed by reality. And I felt pretty silly, no doubt about that.

Final happy song, again one of the first songs I remember... a song I was absolutely sure was written and performed by my parents for some reason, was none other thaaaan:


The Lambadaaaaaaaa... which was the theme song to all parties at our apartment back in 1989 and onwards... Wow, no wonder I thought my parents composed it - cause they were playing it ALL the time; and I was too young and undeveloped.. mentally.. to know that there was such a thing as a music industry. Haha, I can't believe how confused I was back then... And I can't believe I remember that!

***

That's it then. Hope this retrospective entry did not bore you to tears. Also, let me assure you that I'm a tad brighter now than I was back then. :) I actually know where songs come from and don't consider random tunes creepy (except for that '7 Seconds' one... brr..).

Just Dance! :)

Have you ever had the urge to start dancing in the street? It's happened to me quite a few times (and I've also done it a few times:)... The girl in the first video below takes this idea to a whole new level, though! Amazing, amazing, amazing! :D The second video, too, is full of awesome dancing and music... Amazing, amazing, amazing! :D Both vids were part of the special 3rd Birthday selection in my friend's show - where it's all about the music! (and the dancing, and the good times)

So enjoy and just dance! :)

Dream a Dream

Watch CBS Videos Online
Admit it, probably the entire world thought the same thing watching 47 year old Susan walk boldly on stage in front of the cheerful audience and dangerous judges of "Britain's Got Talent." I was watching the show on TV, and also expected a bit of a laugh after being introduced to the singer. It was sad, though, to see everyone laugh, chuckle, and roll their eyes while Susan opened up her act with a few almost witty lines. She was smiling and gleaming, though, and as she said, she was ready to ROCK THAT AUDIENCE!

And then, in a matter of seconds, everyone went silent and the only sound in the room was the ever so mesmerizing voice coming from a most unlikely source, everyone could agree. Silence and awe. Awe beyond any awe seen on that show. A genuine appreciation for this woman's gift; also a shameful silence, for everyone felt equally stupid for thinking Susan would be just a "big, unattractive joke". That inevitably brings up questions about the degree to which we allow prejudice to govern our actions; how people are so critical and judgemental - all based on appearances...

But then this story is beautiful... It is a story of hope, of dreams coming true, and of beauty in unlikely places. It's a positive story, and certainly a motivation for everyone to pursue their dreams. Or, as Susan advised aspiring singers, "Just go fer it!"

Last, but definitely not least, this story shows that music is the most beautiful thing in the world and it always makes the people come together!!! :))

O Tannenbaum!

Apparently pine/fir trees are no longer growing just on hills and out in nature... A sneaky little fir branch started growing inside a Russian man's lung!! It's crazy! When I was a kid my parents would tell me not to swallow cherries with their seeds cause a cherry tree might grow in my stomach. I never listened, but now I'm afraid that might actually be possible!

At least the Russian dude could have had a full-grown Christmas tree ready right on time for the holidays ;)

I've got a lot of love to give...

I wonder if it's odd walking down the street with 'I Get All the Girls' blasting in my ears, but frankly I don't care, cause Calvin Harris is awesome! :D
And here's an awesome interview featured on the Popjustice website (yes, I did just feel like copy-pasting the entire interview on here... And I haven't made any gasp-inciting changes to it, don't worry):

"Calvin Harris is one of the most important people in British pop music and his new single, 'I'm Not Alone', is currently Number One in the hit parade.

To celebrate this here is an interview.


Ahoy Calvin. Where are you?
I’m in Willesden.

That’s nice.
It’s not at all. It’s awful. I moved my studio here and it’s a disaster to be honest with you. I’m in a fucking broom cupboard, I feel like Andy fucking Crane. It’s this room they rent out on a longterm basis and I’m the unlucky tenant.

How long do you have it for?
I can leave if I give two weeks’ notice which is great and I think I might do that sooner rather than later.

The idea of having this studio is presumably that you are away from distraction and working on new tunes?
That’s the idea but at the moment I’m working on making the live show sound good, which is a lot of work. And at the same time I’m trying to finish my album. And people keep asking me for backing tracks. I really want to give them things, but I’m not getting enough sleep.

The priority must be Calvin Harris: The Popstar.
Er, yes. I reckon. As long as I’ve got a record deal I’ll put records out and have that as a priority, rather than giving Flo-Rida a backing track. Which is what I’m trying to do now.

Does Flo-Rida really want a Calvin Harris backing track?
He does! Yes.

Has he asked for it to be based around any old ropey 80s songs?
No, just one of my own ropey 80s songs… (Laughs) I don’t know.

When you submit a song for someone American do you try to make your music sound more American, or do you try to make it sound more British?
It’s a boring answer but I just try to split the difference and make it not sound like anything. And sometimes that works. But to be honest with you I’ve been sending lots of tracks to Americans and not getting great responses so I definitely don’t have the answer to your question. I think all you can do is do something that you like. And as long as you like it…

…if anyone else likes it that’s a bonus!
I was NEVER going to say that!

You were heading there Calvin.
I was going to do an about turn and shock you with a piece of information so valuable that you would probably have had to simply put the phone down.

But then we ruined it all by talking over you. Interviewing fail.
Yes.

The question was more interesting than your answer, though. It was a good question that you let down.
Okay, sorry.

‘I’m Not Alone’ has been very well received. Are you going to fuck it all up with a follow up?
Yeah well the thing about the next one is that it sounds different to this current one. That’ll fuck me up a bit. And it also sounds different to anything else I’ve ever done.

Does it sound like Vampire Weekend?
No, no, no. It’s still dancey. It’s got a wailing diva on it. Mary Pearce. She’s not famous.

Was it ever going to be a famous person?
No, I wanted someone I could bung £250 to and never hear from again. Royalties are few and far between these days – I just got my iTunes statement through and to be honest with you it doesn’t even cover a packet of Fruit Pastilles. I’m on my arse, mate.

You’re literally in Willesden.
Exactly! All the evidence is there. I don’t need to spell it out for you.

How does one write lyrics for a wailing diva? Is it all ‘ooh baby I want to take you higher etc etc’?
No – it’s, er, interesting. It’s about shoes.

Shoes?
Shoes.

You sound like you’re moving about, are you on a roof?
No, I’m in a car now.

Are you on your way somewhere ‘important’.
Yes, it’s quite important. I’m going to Soho. I’m not allowed to say what I’m doing, sorry. It’s exciting though. Oh yes, it’s very exciting.

Is it exciting if you’re someone who isn’t Calvin Harris?
It’s basically only exciting if you’re me.

Anyway, just to get this straight, the big idea with your second album is that rather than rush something out and it be…
…shit…

…yes, shit, you’re going to take your time with it.
Well yes that was initially the idea.

And you’re going to release quite a few singles and then release the album as if it is some sort of ‘greatest hits’, and you’re going to pretend that was the plan all along rather than that you just didn’t record a second album quickly enough.
Well the first tactic of delaying the album was pretending that I lost it at Heathrow. That one worked pretty well. The second was the Dizzee Rascal tune, which reminded people that I existed. And the third tactic is now to put a single out and hope that it does so well that people forget I haven’t made a second album.

And the Heathrow ‘episode’, in which you claimed baggage handlers at Terminal 5 had lost your entire new album, was rubbish?
That was concocted between me and my sound engineer, Jimmy.

Just to get this straight: you used Terminal 5 as an excuse for not having made an album, in the same way that a child might tell a teacher that their homework had been eaten by the dog?
Well sort of yes. I should make it clear that they did in fact lose our bags – that is fact – but it was not true that the album was in them. I would never check a hard drive in luggage. So the thing about Heathrow wasn’t so much a lie, as… Well… An untruth.

It was a white lie because all you wanted to do was buy yourself some time to make sure your second album was great. And the reason you wanted to do this was that your first album was mainly rubbish.
The thing about that first album is that I was making music to please myself and I didn’t think anybody else would hear the songs, but then I got signed and they came out. Now I know other people are going to hear them I’m going to try my hardest to make it good. This time it’s the idea that I like it, that you like it, that everybody likes it. I don’t want to make anyone angry. I got the impression that people were actually ANGRY about my first album.

People found the first single annoying. But only because they heard it so much. But they only heard it so much because it was played as a response to people wanting to hear it. What are you supposed to do?
I don’t know.

You carry on, Calvin. That’s what do you.
Yes.

So next single: wailing diva. Have you got the third one lined up?
Well I have… And I haven’t. There’s two choices. There’s one that I’ve done that isn’t going to do very well in the charts. Then there’s one I’ve only just started that I’m quite excited about that probably will be the third single. But I don’t know. I DON’T KNOW!

What do people want from you?
They probably want me to go away, to be honest. The vast majority of people just would prefer it if I didn’t exist. And that’s okay.

All you have to do is please 1% of the population and that’s a Number One record. If 99 of every 100 people you pass in the street shouts at you about what a massive cunt you are it doesn’t matter because you’re STILL NUMBER ONE. And that’s what you need to remember.
But you still have to live your life. You can’t live your life with 99% of the world’s population thinking you’re a cunt, can you.

Well look at Max Clifford. Let’s just for a minute discuss your video which is about you being a sort of Dr Frankenstein and there’s a stuffed toy bear, and then there are some ladies having a dance, and…
Thing is, originally it was about something. And then it became a sort of bizarre, er, I don’t even know what it is anymore. But I like it. It looks like a film. It’s pretty and that’s all that matters to me. No videos are really about anything any more, are they? They’re just people on a green screen dancing. Mine is just another one of them.

The good thing about making a slightly shit video is that nobody really watches videos any more.
Well they look on YouTube don’t they.

It’s amazing we’re so far into this interview without yet mentioning your legendary Tweet.
Which one was that?

The one in which you announced that you were going for “a shit” in order to “make room for” your dinner.
Oh! Hahaha. I thought that was quite a good one but everybody turned out to be repulsed.

It was certainly honest. And all we can ask of from our musicians is that they are honest.
I don’t know where the line is. I don’t know where the line is with Twitter. Nobody does.

In the olden days you wouldn’t get Kate Bush going “just had a shit to make room for dinner”.
Well that’s the whole mythical thing isn’t it, about the 80s, when people say that it was better because you didn’t have access to them and they were more untouchable.

[Editor’s Note: This interview took place before ‘Acceptable In The 80s’ hitmaker Calvin Harris had released comeback single ‘I’m Not Alone’.]

What’s your chart prediction for the single?
Number 13. And I’ll be gutted. I keep thinking one minute that it’ll do well, then another time I think it’ll bomb.

People – and not even people whose job it is to be nice about you – have been talking about this as sounding like a Number One single.
Yeah but ‘sounds like’ and ‘is’ are well different. And I’ve not been doing much promo on it.

Why not?
Well, nobody really knows what to do. I’ve got three singles coming up before the album so we’re sort of making this campaign up as we go along. They’re saying we won’t go for it on this one, or on the next one, but for the third one they’ll really go for it. But what if there IS no third one? This is the problem I’m facing at the moment but it’s all good fun.

At the end of the day Calvin it’s only pop music.
Yes.

Lighten up.
You’re right.

On the other hand, it’s your career we’re talking about.
Yes.

But we’re all in this together, like in the High School Musical song.
You try and build up the most terrible records and pretend they’re amazing. You’ve been alright recently actually but I’ve never liked a Song Of The Day, I can say that with confidence.

Your new bloody single was Song Of The Day!
Was it? I don’t think I saw that. Well in that case thank you.



That was an interview. For more information on 'Acceptable In The 80s' hitmaker Calvin Harris have a look at his website, www.calvinharris.tv."

And also:
5 Reasons I Am Not Totally Shit
by Calvin Harris (for Popjustice)

1. "I made my album 'I Created Disco' using a computer called an 'Amiga'. Now, not everybody knows what one of these is - myself included - but what i can reveal is: a) it's nothing like an Atari, and b) it's the same colour as an Atari."

2. "I was once told by my music teacher that I was quite good, and stood a decent chance of success in the music industry and the very best of luck to me. HA! I certainly showed him! Egg on HIS face!"

3. "I was listening to my first single 'Acceptable In The 80s' (out March 12th) in my car the night I accidentally - I can't stress that enough - took out three rabbits and a fox on one relatively short stretch of road. Although I understand it would be big of me to take the blame for this, I just can't as it was totally their fault."

4. "I'm supporting Faithless in a couple of months on their arena tour, and I have a bet with my mum that if I say 'Hello Wembley!' in Nottingham, and vice versa, she will bake me my favourite cake (top secret) on a weekly basis and have it couriered to me wherever I am in the country, at entirely her expense. (UK only.)"

5. "I have an extremely anti-social cat."

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In a rather unrelated story, I entered a competition to see Lady GaGa perform live next Tuesday at the Capital FM building... I'll let you know if I win :)



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Now in a completely unrelated story, I'm the ultimate procrastinator... I can't even believe how extreme I make my life sometimes :) Haha, writing essays literally by the last possible second before the deadline. Sigh. Got one done today, need to do one more tomorrow (due Friday). Oh joy! Once Friday is over, though, I'll be on my way home, woohoo, for a very quick Eastery visit to Eastern Europe hehe. Sorry, I had to take advantage of that pun :) Anyway, I'm off to be semi-productive now (ie to think about all the stuff I have to do but not actually do it... amazing)

Capital Coincidence?

Okay I admit this will be a silly entry... but... I have a theory that someone from Capital FM has been reading my blog recently. Haha. I've been listening to the station online, and they just mentioned the thing about Kanye and South Park which I had posted earlier. But then they were also talking about Eiffel 65's "Blue" song, which I had also mentioned a couple of entries back. Funny, I thought :) Well, the "Blue" thing was in relation to Flo Rida's song Suga (and not to the Cardiff Blues, as was the case here). Evidently, Flo enjoyed incorporating parts of the epic 90's da-ba-dee-daa song in his newish hit. Ah, and it's only in the academic world that plagiarism is considered a criminal offence! :))

And that was all.

Happy Ending

Well, I've been thinking about this song lately, cause it's beautiful :) And we'll all get our happy endings, yeah! :) And all we need is a little bit of love... Lalala.

(And just to let you know, I do realize the song is sad and it's not so much about a happy as about the lack thereof, but I still take it as an optimistic song)

Do you like fish sticks?

Certainly not the funniest joke in the universe... If you have no idea what I'm talking about, you probably didn't watch the latest episode of South Park, mocking the Brightest Star in the Universe, aka Kanye West :) Yeah, I went to his concert last year and he was awesome, but soooooo conceited :) At first I thought he was joking around, yet later realized he really takes himself THAT seriously and truly BELIEVES he is the best thing on the planet! ... Ah, yeah... Well, South Park made fun of this trait of Kanye's... and here's what Kanye said in his blog:

"SOUTH PARK MURDERED ME LAST NIGHT AND IT'S PRETTY FUNNY. IT HURTS MY FEELINGS BUT WHAT CAN YOU EXPECT FROM SOUTH PARK! I ACTUALLY HAVE BEEN WORKING ON MY EGO THOUGH. HAVING THE CRAZY EGO IS PLAYED OUT AT THIS POINT IN MY LIFE AND CAREER. I USE TO USE IT TO BUILD UP MY ESTEEM WHEN NOBODY BELIEVED IN ME. NOW THAT PEOPLE DO BELIEVE AND SUPPORT MY MUSIC AND PRODUCTS THE BEST RESPONSE IS THANK YOU INSTEAD OF "I TOLD YOU SO!!!" IT'S COOL TO TALK SHIT WHEN YOU'RE RAPPING BUT NOT IN REAL LIFE. WHEN YOU MEET LITTLE WAYNE IN PERSON HE'S THE NICEST GUY FOR EXAMPLE. I JUST WANNA BE A DOPER PERSON WHICH STARTS WITH ME NOT ALWAYS TELLING PEOPLE HOW DOPE I THINK I AM. I NEED TO JUST GET PAST MYSELF. DROP THE BRAVADO AND JUST MAKE DOPE PRODUCT. EVERYTHING IS NOT THAT SERIOUS. AS LONG AS PEOPLE THINK I ACT LIKE A BITCH THIS TYPE OF SHIT WILL HAPPEN TO ME. I GOT A LONG ROAD AHEAD OF ME TO MAKE PEOPLE BELIEVE I'M NOT ACTUALLY A HUGE DOUCHE BUT I'M UP FOR THE CHALLENGE. I'M SURE THE WRITERS AT SOUTH PARK ARE REALLY NICE PEOPLE IN REAL LIFE. THANKS FOR TAKING THE TIME TO DRAW MY CREW. THAT WAS PRETTY FUNNY ALSO!! I'M SURE THERE'S GRAMMATICAL ERRORS IN THIS... THAT'S HOW YOU KNOW IT'S ME!" - Kanye West

So I wonder, if I saw him in one of his upcoming concerts, would he say that he's maybe the second-brightest star in the universe or something? Who knows, who knows... And here's Kanye's newest song, Gay Fish, SP rendition. Highly educational indeed, like all South Park-related stuff:

Soundtrack of the day?

Bad days suck. And you know what I hate - that when it's bad, it's BAD.

BUT everyone, we should not let anything bring us down, okay? Even when things are bad, worse or worst, try to think that if you were grammatically challenged, you'd probably say 'badder' which sounds a lot like 'better' doesn't it? :) So you know what - just make things better yourself!!! :D Or, as Monty Python would sing:

You Me @ 6 Gone Big!

About two years ago, we went to watch Jessica's cousin's band (Set in Motion) perform in Camden, at a rather underground screamy gig. It was a line up of 5 bands, one of which was You Me at Six. I liked them back then, added them on myspace and then didn't hear much about them until recently when they went totally BIG!!! It's a cool feeling knowing that way back when we were practically watching future rock celebrities wohooo!

Next, let's keep our fingers crossed for Set in Motion too! :)

Heartbeats

Beautiful song... sad and beautiful...

Flawless

Look at 'em dancing!! Awesome... As George would say, absolutely flawless ... :)

Blues, Blues, Blues!

Rugby for Easter, anyone? That's what we did - saw the Cardiff Blues play Toulouse at the Millenium stadium in Cardiff. Woooohoo, Cardiff won!! The atmosphere was awesome, sporty, loud and roudy! :D Alright! So now I can check 'Go to a rugby game in Wales' off my little book of firsts.



In terms of songs that go with this, here's one which was the 'victory tune' that played in the stadium whenever our team scored. (PS I love it!)


And another one, which could possibly be the team's anthem, right? ;)

Who's gonna ride you, Welsh horses?

Gorgeous sunset by Swansea, where the tide was in and had covered up the grasslands. The horses didn't care, they simply walked on water! :) And in the end, a herd of them just galloped right on through... amazing! It was chicken soup for the horse lover's soul...







Also, I am making it a tradition to have a little soundtrack with every post, related somehow to whatever the post is about... So here's today's sappy wild horsey song:

PETA vs. Pet Shop Boys

A bizarre request, undoubtedly, was sent by PETA to the great Pet Shop Boys, asking the band to change its name to "The Rescue Shelter Boys" in an attempt to raise awareness for the issue of abandoned and mistreated pets. The Boys declined the plea, although they were very kind about it and did express their compassion to the cause.

Somehow, it just wouldn't feel right to listen to "The Rescue Shelter Boys"... If nothing else, imagine how that song would sound with all the extra syllables... (not even Robbie can make it work with the new name:)

Prophet for Profit?

Remember 2005? Remember Denmark? Remember a certain set of published cartoons which sent a wave of terror around the world? Yeah, I'm referring to the mocking cartoons of Mohammed which were published in a Danish newspaper despite the fact that it is against Islamic law to depict the Prophet in any shape or form... I remember back then how much conflict and controversy the caricatures caused; they were the 'hot topic' forever, it seemed, and the entire world was talking about that!

You would think that after that turmoil people would learn that although we have the oh-so-glorious "freedom of speech and expression" in the west, we still shouldn't disrespect other peoples' cultures and beliefs... especially when this can lead to violence.

So instead of putting this debate in the past, Denmark's Free Press Association has decided once again to bring up that issue by not only reprinting and multiplying the cartoons, but also selling them for profit... Why do that?! I wonder what the response will be. If there is a sudden surge of violence again, I'll not be surprised at all. "We're just starting a debate," Lars Hadegaard of the FPAssociation said - well, smart move there! Did you already forget the nice little debate we had in 2005?

Some people never learn, do they... So sit back, grab some pop corn, and get ready to watch the next ridiculous episode of "The World We Live in"

The End

Така ли е наистина?

Борисов: "София не е била по-чиста."

Аз ли нещо не съм разбрала или наистина София изведнъж е станала една чииистичка и прекрасна? Вярно, че от около 3 месеца не съм стъпвала на наша почва, но по последни спомени не беше супер чисто...

08.04.2009 13:52 от Vesti.bg
Ние сме като Сталинград през Втората световна война. Обградени сме от правителството, което иска да направи София гето, е казал Борисов при спосещението си в Москва

"София не е била толкова чиста, колкото в момента. Всеки ден ходя и броя чистачките", е казал столичният кмет Бойко Борисов в руската столица, където е за Дните на София в Москва.

Според него "премиерът заедно с ДПС дирижира проблемите с чистотата в столицата".

"Ние сме като Сталинград през Втората световна война. Обградени сме от правителството, което иска да направи София гето", е казал още Борисов и добавил: "Станишев вместо да аплодира кмета на София за това, че е развалил концесията за боклука, ходи да брои кофи и да казва, че еди-къде-си има пълна кофа за боклук."

Този жалък плач на Станишев за Вълка (Румен Гайтански, бел. ред.) ме радва. Станишев, Вълка, Доган, са едно и също нещо. Станишев се опитва да помага на Вълка да си върне концесията, но няма да си я върне.

"Трябва да издържим още един месец. Влизаме в избори. Победата ще бъде за нас", е казал още столичният кмет Бойко Борисов.

Според него "Станишев и правителството са в паника заради спрените еврофондове и заради това, че България е най-бедната и най-корумпирана страна в Европейския съюз".

Do that beat!!

Wow... I think I want to marry a beatboxer one of those days ;) That technique is so unbelievably cool!!! Sure, it looks rather silly, you might say, but I don't mind silliness as long as those beats keep beatin'! :)

Web Trends Map

Hey, wanna check out the coolest websites on the block? Look at that awesome web trends map! (you need to see the original size btw)

Mankind is no Island

A touching video about NY, Sydney, and people without homes...

It's NOT for girls!

So I saw that bar in the local store and decided to buy it and check out what exactly makes it so 'NOT FOR GIRLS'. Uhm, other than the fact that it tastes rather distastefully, I don't see a difference between the Yorkie and any other cheap chocolate! Ha... Unless of course it has some poisonous substance inside which transforms X-chromosomes into Y(orkie) ones and turns girls into macho men! Wohoo, find that out in our next episode!

Over.

Finding the Key Part 2

What's with life and the significance of seemingly insignificant incidents again?! Guess what... I found another little key on the ground today. Two keys in a week. That better be a good sign!! Hmmm... Come to think of it, there was also a third set of small keys attached to a heart keychain that Jess and I spotted on the street one evening but decided not to take them cause of the keychain and stuff. Hopefully their rightful owner found them! So recently my finding coins has totally transformed to finding keys! I think I should stop looking at the floor for (a) change!

The end of an ERa...

On April 2, 2009, while the G20 leaders discussed the financial future of the planet, a rather large group of fans stood heartbroken at the end of an ERa (pun intended)... namely... the end of "ER", the popular hospital TV series that's been on air practically forever!

Oh, the memories! I was an ER addict once, back when the series first started showing in Bulgaria... wow, I remember I watched it all the time and didn't want to miss an episode... what was it, Thursdays at 8pm? Maybe, I don't remember - but I HAD TO be home and watch it!

My favorite cast members were Nurse Carol and Dr. Ross (Julianna Margulies and George Clooney). Carol was like my role model! And I remember a couple of episodes when she was going through some serious drama - boy, did I cry at those! Also, every morning I'd wait for the school bus to pick me up; as I was waiting on the corner of our street, I kept re-enacting scenes from the latest episodes in my head (and sometimes in reality, which is probably why passers-by looked at me slightly weirdly at times). Yeah... I find that so funny now! :D I don't think I've been that passionate about a TV show since! But you know, the stronger a passion is in the beginning, the more suddenly it dies... Yep, my love for ER died rather quickly, after only a few years... :)

And I can't imagine that the show just ended NOW! That brought back so many memories, again :) But seriously, I have no more sentiments for the Chicago doctors.. which is probably a good thing, otherwise I would have had a really, really sad birthday :S *but no, it was a really, really happy one:)

Well, that's that.

In case you have absolutely nothing better to do than look up rather useless information, check out all the other irrelevant events that have occurred on April 2 throughout the years (seriously, there's nothing too exciting on there... it's a boring date, historically speaking...) (and bless Wikipedia - the source of tons of random knowledge!)

Finally, and most definitely most irrelevant to this entire post, a video.. about cats. Cats that do silly things and usually end up in comically painful situations for our entertainment... I like the one with the fan :) (oh and for the record, dogs rule, cats don't!)

Obamalicious?

I thought I'd put in a little entry on the Man of the Moment, the One and Only, the Persident whose face is the most marketed body part in the world today... Obama! I thought having an excess of Obama shirts and caps was one thing, but the way his image has taken over the food industry as well is ridiculous... So here are some of his gastronomical appearances:

Cake!


Fingers! (made in Germany!)


Fast food...


And my personal favorite, Obama Sushi! :D




While searching for images for this short post, I discovered that this whole fascination with the Obamaliscious phenomenon is quite prevalent around the world! Check out these:
What's up with our need to make Obama food?
Obama Foodorama - an entire blog dedicated ONLY to OBAMA FOOD!

Haha, unbelievable is this Obamafied world we live in... :)

Does this mean that I'm not alone?

Calvin Harris's awesome new-ish single, Not Alone. I hope he plays that live at the London Scala, oh yeah baby, can't wait! :D

Whatday?

Haha, so today was the day I got old, reaching the big 22... Great, amazing, spectacular! Only... I didn't feel it at all! Why? I was too busy with videos and projects! Whoa... The day went by so fast... At least I got so many lovely wishes!!! Thanks to all my friends! <3


Sigh... and I'll assume Capital FM is wishing me a happy bday now with my recent obsession, 'Human' :P Oh, the memories...

Anyway... Tomorrow will be the Day for Dancing (and partying and making up for today's lack of holiday spirit - other than in the funky outfit I've been wearing for the past few days:)

How stupid can you get?

Seriously?! Light a match while someone's pumping gasoline at a gas station... Genius Award!


Oh, in an unrelated story, Obama gave an iPod as a gift to the Queen. Cool, cool, makes me wanna be Queen for a day :)

While Obama's tech-ing up the Queen, protesters have been breaking windows, throwing eggs and vegetables, and generally expressing their disapproval of anything and everything related to tomorrow's Big G20 Event!

Oh baby, baby it's a wild world!

G20 Chaos

Today's holiday, also known as Financial Fools Day, is a tremulous day for London. Right before the G20 Summit, protesters in Central London have broken into the Royal Bank of Scotland and have attacked the HSBC building too. There are riots and road blockages; such a lovely way to greet President Obama and his wife who are currently in London (among many other 'big figures' in the financial and political world). Here's a video of what's happening downtown (also a reason why I'm not stepping into central L. today for sure).

April's Fools

..aaand last day of youth :P
Just kidding. But anyway, it is the last day of '21' - now on to the big two-two. Exciting stuff.
I just realized something. Today I spilled coffee on me THREE times in 5 minutes (and it was hot and annoying). I also almost got run over by a. a car, b. a motorbike, and c. another car (in that order). I thought that's pretty odd, as a continuous streak of bad luck... and then I calmly remembered the idea that right before a birthday people usually enter a 'black hole' so to speak:)So I'm currently in my little hole. Don't worry, bad luck is not contagious! And I certainly hope it all goes away on April 3! (fingers crossed!)
Alright, I'm going to sleep now and wake up early in the morning to do all sorts of work, as usual...

Oh, and try avoiding being the 'fool' of the day. I did feel quite foolish after the 3rd time that wretched coffee spilled on me, and it wasn't even April 1 yet .. I've already had my fair share of fooling around already...