Bruno Mars!

To avoid Picture Spam, SCROLL DOWN! (: 

I know the whole world knows who Bruno Mars is, or at least nearly the whole world who have access to his melodious marvels, would know him, and love his songs and music. Bruno is undoubtedly skilled in his musical gifts. Although his vocals aren't the most extraordinary, his swooning voice would lull you into L-O-V-E mode. I don't know how ANYONE can hate this guy.

I can safely say, he's pulled me to his side with his songs. Who can resist?

I believe most people have only heard of Bruno from his collaboration with artists B.o.B in Nothin' On You, and I bet, then, some people didn't even know who was singing or who was rappin'. Was this dude Bruno rapping or the singing guy. It became much more obvious who he was in his second feature in Travie McCoy's Billionaire. He is officially loved then.

He sings the wonderful melodies to their raps, and turned their songs into something people who dislike that kind of genre, into something they replay, cover and sing along to, spinning out their own versions and rapping their own lyrics. Yet, they continue to cover Bruno's part of the songs, even though he was only considered as a lending vocal to these songs, its impossible not to notice that the majority light shone on the songs were steered towards Bruno's parts.

I never looked at him twice, or bothered to google or wiki him, but after hearing everyone raving about his new song (then) Just The Way You Are, I decided to give it a chance. At first hearing, it sounded like any other pop song, but then as I begin to really LISTEN instead of just hear, I begin to like his style very much. I went on to get his latest album Doo-Wops & Hooligans, which displays his talents and versatility EXTREMELY well for a Debut album. Like the album title, Bruno delivered JUST that. Doo-Wop (A style of vocal of Rhythm and Blues) with a appropriate pinch of Pop.

I kept replaying tracks over and over. After I got nearly over it, the Bruno rush just swept me over again. Fast. My first love would have to be Grenade. A very emotional and moving song of the extend of ones love in physically painful terms. Seriously. What girl wouldn't like to know a guy is willing to die for her? The song tugged at my heart, and I immediately loved it. Very much. It reveals much truth when someone is pretty terribly in love, and that might be how to feel. It was also a heartbreak song as the lyrics begin to reveal how the love has gone to waste. I loved it to bits. When the music video came out, I nearly cried. Yes, I am quite emotional, but rarely do music videos make me cry.

I won't lie when I say I don't feel entirely comfortable with the song Our First Time, but then again, it may appeal to other people. Still, it does have a tropical feel, like I said, Nostalgic. Like an old song in the 80s brought to life with a relaxed voice. There are however MANY great tracks. In fact I LOVE his entire album, save this song.

Bruno Mars let his, I would say, wild side show on other tracks, of which my favourite one would have to be Runaway Baby. I cannot love this song enough. It begins with a strong bass, and the rest just falls perfectly into place. The song has a great beat, something you would replay over and over again. A fun song to the album and my second favourite from this great album. As I said, his versatility is shown through his different range of songs, and Runaway Baby has got to be the most fun upbeat, adrenaline rushed, heart-pumping, blood rising song in the album followed by the soulful and slightly calmer The Other Side which displays a more nostalgic beat with a bold chorus featuring the one and only Cee Lo Green! Upbeat and pure genius.

Who can resist a guy who talks to the moon (If he's thinking of you?)? In Talking to The Moon, Bruno has a more Ballad-like speed, yet the song is still very much soulful. A song you can slow dance to, Talking to the Moon is another one of my favourites, or my only favourite in the category of slow-paced, sweet and heart captivating songs with a 'nostalgic-backstreet-boys-love-songs' feel. Simply no other way to describe this but beautiful.

Another upbeat song with a funner edge would be Marry You. It sounds like a cute song any guy could play with a subtle hint to his dream girl. Something any girl would love to hear by the way! This song is simply adorable, playful and just heaps of fun to listen to. The vibe I get is almost like I'm being whisked into the 80s and 90s with a little tease. I can almost picture a guy chasing a girl down a field of flowers playfully in an almost whimsical background, almost dream-like. A very versatile for almost any occasion that has a jovial mood. I like it very much. Another song with a fun theme is The Lazy Song. It is a cute almost tropical-like song that I can envision being played at beach parties, barbecues, friendly gatherings, I can also see people going over the top having fun dancing to this song. Another fun tropical-like song would be Liquor Store Blues. Very classic feel, almost nostalgic. The lyrics are not what most people would relate to literally, but the emotion depicted in the lyrics does define moods along with the island fantasy tone to it.

Not only does this album depict love and loves' innocence, but it also has a song that is about friendship. A type of song I don't often hear, and hear lyrics about. A very simple beat and tune, but the lyrics and cute rhyming of Count on Me speaks to the masses. I often find myself in a position looking for songs to put in videos, but I never find much about friends, and therefore it ends up with limited selections of which the very popular was Graduation by Vitamin C. I think when I graduate, Count On Me is the song I'd like to play. It depicts on the simplicity of counting on a friend, the reliability and the dependence you sometimes need in a friend.

My Overall rating for the album Doo-Wops & Hooligans: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ 
My Overall rating for Bruno Mars: Undoubtedly Talented.


A little side note, listening to Bruno Mars may potentially cause you to fall in love with him, and even for the more reserved listeners, it may cause you to look for your own Bruno Mars = finding the perfect Mr. Darcy.

To finish of this post, I'd like to direct to the music video, and then an adorable rendition of Marry You. (:

CLICK HERE!




XOXO
C

Festival of Lights!

Saturday, after a pretty thumb-painful 2hours of bowling, I left to go for a nice Deepavali at my friends house. It was more of eating, and the food was extremely yummy. There was curry, bryani rice, chili-fied eggs, prawns and fish, yummy yummy yummy. I love food.

So maybe a little background on Deepavali and maybe some snapshots as well!
Wiki Extract:
Deepavali (also spelled Devali in certain regions) or Diwali^[1], popularly known as the festival of lights, is an important five-day festival in Hinduism, Jainism, and Sikhism, occurring between mid-October and mid-November. For Hindus, Diwali is the most important festival of the year and is celebrated in families by performing traditional activities together in their homes. Deepavali is an official holiday in India,^[2] Nepal,Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Mauritius, Guyana, Trinidad & Tobago, Suriname, Malaysia, Singapore, and Fiji.


Since I'm from Singapore, its also a public holiday here! Even though I don't really celebrate it at all, I still get to enjoy the break! I think Deepavali is a fun.


So we went to my friend's house to eat loads of yummilicious foods and we snapped a few low quality phone camera shots that was rather blur. I don't have the shots now, its with my friend, but when I lay my hands on it, I'll post it here!


After which, we left to play with sparklers and powder bombs which were seriously cool. You smacked the packet or stomped on it, and then you throw or kick it far away, and then it'd explode, or at least thats just the sound, but either way, I think its really awesome and I'm looking forward to buying fun toys like those! 


I left early after that though! (Bummer)


Went to Swensons at Plaza Singapura to meet my parents friend, an Aunt who bakes the best muffins/cakes/brownies/cookies/EVERYTHING, and I mean it in the sweet sense. She baked for me some really awesome muffins. She's leaving for USA tomorrow, and I'm going to miss her yummy baking stuff! 


After the tummy-feeling Earthquake ice-cream, I went back to the same area to watch MEGA-MIND(Show review some other time). I had fun with my friend, and an interesting right home in the MRT!


To end it all:

Beyond the hair: Hair Alert

This super short post is just an alert for a new post on my other blog!

http://beyondthecollars.blogspot.com/2010/11/hairy-update.html

I just post random stuff about my hair for personal reference, just to keep track of my hair growth, and the products I use!

Check it out if you want!

XOXO
C

Squeeze!

So today started with chinese tuition, and then it spiralled into a healthy morning of badminton. I never appreciated the stench of perspiration, or the cool stinging feeling of the wind as it blows onto the vaporizing perspiration on my body as my skin starts to feel sticky to the touch.

Eeyyyuchhk.

After that, I went straight to my Aunt's house to celebrate my Grandmama's birthday. Her 83rd birthday. I gave Grandma Betty a hug and wished her, before I went straight for the food, head first. The food was partially cold, but it was still delicious. It was rather short, but I very much enjoyed the day.

I thought my haircut was disastrous, but as it turns out, it looks okay. My sister said I could pull of short fringes, but that's her opinion. Releasing the weird cut from the clasps of the might hairclip in school, on led to a snowball of laughter and pitiful pats.

I guess I COULD get used to this hair cut.

Meanwhile, I'm home now, having a mystery marathon. Just done with an episode of Criminal Minds Season 6 Epi 6. It had some halloween links to it. Nothing scary, just fire, now I'm on an Are You Afraid of the Dark marathon, The tale of the Twisted Claw. Uncannily, it has relations to halloween as well. I never celebrated halloween, not because its not a common festival in Singapore. If I could come up with a holiday just for trick-or-treating and dressing up, I would. But Halloween isn't all about dressing up, there is a history behind it.

Some may say its harmless fun, it could be, but I just don't celebrate it.

My dog, Squeeze is being a mouse. He was in the dining room, leaning against a hi-hat (Daddy's drum cymbals), and as he kicked his fur for a doggy scratch, his leg brushed against it overturned cymbal as it made a tiny clang, more like a vibration to be exact, and Squeeze jumped from his spot, and ran all the way to the living room.

What a mouse. Not to mention, he does look like one!

TEEHEE.

So... I'm addicted to something lately.....

I have a tin of addictive cravings. I just can't stop...

 Yep, the sweetness disappears so fast.. I can't stop eating Redondo Vanilla!!! They come in MANY flavours. Its like a household snack. Its replenished everytime it disappears.

Lastly, this photo looks like i have a super large chin! But my chin is a thumb away from my mouth on this picture, or at least my thumb...

XOXO
C

Lost

Sometimes I ask myself why, or why not. Sometimes I retrace my steps, just to think what I've thrown and what I've got. What I've risked, and what I've lost. Was my naive thinking going to pummel me into a rainbow of peace, or was it just pulling me into a string of endless questions of what ifs and what should have been?

Is my anger going to get the better of me, or am I just to prideful to let myself be open. I've built this fence around me. It's growing taller and thicker. Yet, there are cracks here and there, peaking out of the thick cold bricks, letting the eyes of human warmth lay still for a moment, as it pries its sight into my surroundings.

I am afraid.

For once, I feel so vulnerable. This vulnerability is slowly but steadily forming over a painful reality. The bite I wish would bite, never did. Then I begin to question, is it right, that those unkind beings get away with everything? Or is it just me, who wants them to be bitten. I said once to a friend, "Have you ever wanted to push this big bully on the ground, just make him fall down, shock him, jolt him?" I have.

I want to hold onto my faiths, but every once in a while, a moon of pain and questions sweep over me. I find it so hard. How can I be so blind, and then realize so well the truth? If it is the truth, then why can't the world see it too? Why can't they just open their big bold and daring eyes, and see.

I feel like a victim.

Sometimes, I'm manipulated into thinking that I'll have that one person behind my back, so that when I stand up against my giants, I'd have a backing. That, never happened, never will. I always get thumbed down, and find that my backing, has scootered over to the other side of the wall. I am cornered, not by people, but by circumstances. I want to realize the past so that it would be forever, but the past is the past, and no amount of moping would do anything.

I just wish they'd see.

Maybe I am a terribly ugly person inside. Selfish, cold, dark. Maybe I would never know who I really am, until I'm tested against those trials. Maybe I would be devious. Maybe, Maybe Maybe, I'm just really lost.

I'm afraid, that as simple as I wish things would be, it really isn't. I want to tear at my insides, because,  I honestly don't think I am that much of a complex person, but everything that has come across my path has led me to be as such, and that, honestly, sucks.

Nostalgia isn't so simply put as reminiscing, it is actually pain, because just at the last second, before your reminiscing ends, there's this glimmer of hope, a spark of eternal fire that feels right. Then, in a split second, you feel the warm air that is no longer your reminiscence, you feel the cold stares, that are no longer light hearted gleams.

Suddenly I realize, I don't have anything in common with anyone, and I don't know why.

I'm only fooling myself with the constant get ups and false fronts. I don't even know who I am, what right do I have to tell others who they should be? What right does anyone have to tell me what I did was wrong? When will I know and finally understand how things work and how paths collide, and why on earth they separate soon after.

I feel so paranoid.
Why do I feel the need to prove I'm right??

Why am I writing this late.


Goodnight self, its 2am. Just so you remember how long nostalgia can keep you awake for.

Les Miserables 031110

I decided to pick up this book to improve my literary skills, though I highly doubt it would.
I got it at a secondhand store, I think it costs s$8.60, its really cheap compared to the original price of the 'newer' paperback copies.

I plan to read the translated totally unabridged version, but who am I kidding? I've got a long way to go. So I've decided to do a post project, just to provoke my thoughts a little.

Every few pages I read, I am going to do a mini review and summary on, and then at the end, I'll compile it as notes for myself. It has nothing to do with the literature books I'm reading, but I guess I would study??

So My first review is on the looks of the book. (Hee)

It's green, quite old looking, and the picture in the front reminds me of some hardcore romance book with those picturesque view and a damsel in distress, kind of those books you see 'taitais' pick up at bookstores like the one at Plaza Sing... Don't ask me how I know what Romance books look like. I just do.

I'd like to get a new book still though, the one with the original paperback cover.

I'm pretty excited to read the book, and since I have an upcoming English project, I've decided to add two more books, as well as use this one as part of the assignment.

My Holiday Goals:

Complete
- Les Miserables
- Moby Dick
- Tom Sawyer or maybe something else..

Tomorrow I want to ask my sister how she deals with losing people, friends, things, important things.


XOXO
C

UPDATE (5/11/10): This is the cover of the book I bought, sorry for the failed reflective shot, I had it plastic covered cause well, I guess I don't like dusty second hand books. I get sick for two days from dusty ANYTHING.

This is the second page which shows the title, original writer an other info on the book.

As you can see, this is the ABRIDGED version/ In other words, this means that this isn't directly translated. It isn't the original word for word translation, which would be an easier read. I found volume two in the shop, but there was only volume tow of the supposedly original copy, so I thought an ABRIDGED version would be a faster read for a first skimming of the book.

So here is the manufacture info of the book which includes 'rules', and a part of the content page.

*No infringement was intended!

I just wanted to share the portion of the book which had a really funny legal rights statement. (However anyone wants to call it)

Quote "Sale of this book without a cover is unauthorized" End Quote.

I just thought that was cute!

Just started reading this book! Wordy, but very nice descriptive words, its a different book.
Now to get my hands on the original Moby Dick.

END OF UPDATE!

The Missing Piece.

The first cry always sounds it out,

what are we crying for?

The first sign we were missing

the something left to satisfy.

The feisty spirit we bring

into the world of which we meet.

We hold the hands, friends

Yet, we're still missing

Piece.

The clear voice, the camaraderies

of choice.

Hanging on, but quickly lost.

How much does this piece

Cost?

Turning backs, quenching

whats left, of what is missing.

New hands to hold,

the old has to go.

Nostalgia grips so bold.

I lose myself.

I slashed my rights.

For granted, causes all I lost.

Yet though its cold,

I let it lull

Search for what, search for which.

Often lost in desperation.

Confusion.

We lose ourselves.

The simple joys, are plastic toys.

Disposable decoys

To Us.

I don't regret, I can't forget.

Pause to breathe, the silence brings

emptiness deep within.

Missing links,

Piece of thinks.

Never found,

Forever bound.