E=MC²

(^ nice pic hor? I take one =P)



Okay, you guys know I'm a fan =P But judging by all the reviews on the net, and Straits Times Life!, suffice to say, 4STARS is a reasonable rating. Check this out~

After making history with her 18th #1 career single - Touch My Body - and surpassing Elvis 'The King' Presley's record, Mariah Carey makes an explosive comeback with her 10th studio album: E=MC².

(FYI: E = Emancipation and MC = Mariah Carey. Her previous effort was The Emancipation of Mimi. So this time she wants it to be doubly better.)

The album can be summed up with one equation:

E = MC² = R&B + Pop Genius

While her previous critically-acclaimed and 'Best Selling Album of the Year's' The Emancipation of Mimi (TEOM) was a fantastic sound for Mariah, E=MC² is a mass-appeal and solid record that will please not only the fans, but the urban crowd as well.

People who digged her previous smash We Belong Together are going to be glad that on this album, I Stay In Love and I'll Be Lovin' U Long Time are sure-fire hit singles. As of TEOM's Fly Like a Bird, my personal favourite here is Bye Bye, a very touching and effective single that is an extreme stand-out in this CD.

TRACK LISTING + comments:

1) Migrate featuring T-Pain - Powerful start to the album. R&B gem.

2) Touch My Body - Needless to say, it's an infectious pop single, as of all her first singles.

3) Cruise Control featuring Damian Marley - Favourite R&B track on this album. Has a bit of 'Shake It Off' feel to it. But better.

4) I Stay In Love - Potential hit. Reminiscent of 'Breakdown'. Will be the next 'We Belong Together'.

5) Side Effects featuring Young Jeezy - Personal lyrics masked in sleek sounds.

6) I'm That Chick - Disco vibe more than compensates for the cheesy title. Groovy.

7) Love Story - IMO the weakest track on the album. Just a plan r&b ballad.

8) I'll Be Lovin' U Long Time - A throwback to 90's Mariah - which is fantastic. Feel-good music.

9) Last Kiss - Sweet love song.

10) Thanx 4 Nothin' - Very old-school Mariah also. Works well.

11) O.O.C. - No, not out of course. Rather, it's out of Control. A different music style that pays off. I actually enjoy this a lot.

12) For The Record - She's setting some record straight with this song.

13) Bye Bye - FAVOURITE song on this album. It's the OFFICIAL 2nd SINGLE. Trust me, it's going to be a HUGE hit. (scroll down for song + lyrics)

14) I Wish You Well - Similar gospel feel but doesn't quite replicate the now-classic Fly Like A Bird. But nice soulful ending to a fantastic album.

~
So here you go: This is sure going to be a very special song for a lot of people.

Listen to the song and read the lyrics...

Mariah's 2nd Single:
BYE BYE


# This is for my peoples who just lost somebody
Your best friend, your baby
Your man or your lady
Put your hand way up high
We will never say bye
No, no, no

Mamas, daddys, sisters, brothers
Friends and cousins
This is for my peoples
Who lost their grandmothers
Lift your head to the sky
Cause we will never say bye #

As a child there were them times
I didn't get it
But you kept me in line
I didn't know why
You didn't show up sometimes
On Sunday mornings and I missed you
But I'm glad we talked through

All them grown folk things
Separation brings
You never let me know it
You never let it show
Because you loved me and obviously
There's so much more left to say
If you were with me today
Face to face

[ Chorus ]
I never knew I could hurt like this
And everyday life goes on I wish
I could talk to you for a while
Miss you but I try not to cry
As time goes by

And it's true that you've
Reached a better place
Still I'd give the world to see your face
And be right here next to you
But it's like you're gone too soon
Now the hardest thing to do is say

Bye bye...

You never got a chance to see
How good I've done
And you never got to
See me back at number one
I wish that you were here
To celebrate together
I wish that we could
Spend the holidays together

I remember when you used to
Tuck me in at night
With the teddy bear you gave me
That I held so tight
I thought you were so strong
You'd make it through whatever
It's so hard to accept the fact
You're gone forever

[ Repeat Chorus ]

[ Repeat ## ]

[ Repeat Chorus till fade ]
~

Aww, so touching right?

Cherish the people you love!

Take care, peeps!

Deserving, Undeserving Pt.2

[ this is a continuation of the previous post ]

[ edited as of 15 April 2008 ]

AS PROMISED, this is the vid that I couldn't upload previously.

DEYI SECONDARY SCHOOL (GOLD WITH HONOURS) BEST BAND PERFORMANCE





Random pic of Rayna comforting our dear BP Band members after the results are announced. Sian. We should've gotten a GOLD!!

Better quality BP show: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BZ-_RM1mTCs&feature=related -> Fantastic show
~

FYI: Performances of ALL the bands can be found @ http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=syf+2008&search_type=
~

Gonna be a busy busy week for me.

Take care, peeps!

Deserving, Undeserving

I have limited time to finish this post. I've to book in soon!!

Firstly, saturday morning went to NTU Mass Communications interview @ WKWSCI. Whoa.. alot of chio-bu =P But yea, I'm very interested in the course. Glad the interview went well. *Keeping fingers crossed*

After that I chiong-ed down to National Stadium in a cab ($20) for the 2008 SYF Marching Band Competition.

No time to say much. Just show you pics and vids. Some rants: Deyi won best band. Yay, they deserve it. Broke TK's spell of 4-time-each-time-$30K-win. BP got silver. VERY UNDESERVING I feel. This year a lot of bands went the China-route. Is it the Beijing Olympics? But anyway, it's over. BP Band ah, is the best ah!

(I'll only feature a few bands)

BP Band gathered outside for a group photo. Lookin' good...


One last sound-check outside the stadium by instructor Daniel...


The A-team's Chinese Lanterns. They cost $95 each!


TK Band (GOLD WITH HONOURS). Muahaha, no longer the champs. Those two thingys you see are actual 舞龙 (Chinese dragons).

This is TK's short ending vid:



This is Pingyi (SILVER). Due to time constraint I won't upload their vid. But their trumpet solo is damn daring and impressive!!


Bowen (GOLD). They've gone completely cheena! (and ironically, a bit boring)


BP Band's performance. SILVER. You watch for yourself and see if it's Silver standard. Personally, (and according to a lot of people's opinions) it's a Gold.



BP Band leaving the stadium after their performance and the BP crowd (in the colourful house tees!) cheering them on!


West Spring (SILVER). Also under Mr Gooi. Rumours are that they're combining with BP!? They've got our trademark, quite obvious. Haiz...don't know about the state of the bands.


This is the opening of Deyi's (GOLD WITH HONOURS) performance. They blew us away with a beautiful beginning - Phantom of the Opera - complete with elegant, graceful dancers. The entire show is splendid i.e. much better than TK =P

I PROMISE to upload DEYI's vid tomorrow ('cause the BP vid is still loading -.-). It's good.

This is Springfield. I seriously don't know what award they got (we simply couldn't hear the announcement). But we're guessing it's Bronze =x They were really, erm, ya.

While waiting for the announcement of results.... here are some random pics....

Yay. The ex-members are decked in white to support dear BP.

All the 9 bands waiting for results.. Sky is getting dark..

Finally (the shocking) results are announced. BP got silver. But they still thanked our supporters traditionally...


The band members who are playing.... our supporters... the school teachers... everyone was crying. Sad scene. It's always like that lah.

But just want to say: BP band I'm very proud of you guys. You've put up an amazing show. Don't be dismayed. There's still 2010. I'm sure you guys will be excellent then. =)
~

Went KBOX with zhiwei, serkun and szern today. Whoa. Sang our hearts out. Left early to eat dinner @ aunt's house.

Need to book in liao!! Shall upload the DEYI BEST BAND video tomorrow if I have nights out. And that single photo from the kbox session =P

Take care, peeps!

Three for Three

Took off today since almost everyone took off so there's no one in camp.

Watched a movie with the R&S guys at Plaza Singapapura last night. Before that had a gut-busting meal @ Carl's Jr. *BURP*

Anyway, due to yongqin's recommendation (okay lah, I was quite interested in it too =p), we caught the film Three Kingdoms: Resurrection of the Dragon aka 三国之见龙卸甲 starring Andy Lau, Maggie Q and Sammo Hung.

I give the movie:



My knowledge of the Chinese history of the three kingdoms (三国志) was quite limited before I saw this film. But thanks to Yong Qin (his crash course for me on the way home on the MRT), I was able to appreciate this film more.

But that was exactly what crippled the movie. Although it got some of its facts wrong (like the timeline, and the fact that Cao Ying [played by Maggie Q], Cao Cao's granddaughter is not as fierce as depicted), I believe it was for the sake of storytelling. However, the plot itself - initially strong - ended very weakly (and lamely).

And one major complain: if you think Maggie Q was one of the major pulling factors in watching this show, and that you expect her to be oh-so-cool, prepare to be disappointed.


With all the hair-flying and fake pipa-playing, Maggie Q just came off looking extremely bitchy and out-of-place. Jun Ming even commented that during the war scenes, it was as if her pipa-playing had surround sound to reach the ears of all the soldiers fighting. I don't know. It just did seem that ridiculous, you know.



FINAL SAY: An epic story that got a not-so-epic treatment. Andy Lau is probably the best thing from this movie. Watch it but take the story loosely. Very average war flick.
~

Tomorrow got NTU Mass Comm interview! Jitters.

And......
Marching Band Comp @ National Stadium.

Update you guys tomorrow.

Take care, peeps!

Happy v.s. Scary

Firstly: to xiao tigger, sukai and baoyuan. Whoaa, my tagboard like become forum liao hor. Lol =p To Xiaotigger and sukai: I applaud your 'telepathic powers' to come together online. Really very 巧. To Baoyuan, your comments very lame, but thanks anyway. Ask your dad to take care =)

Watched two movies this weekend. One scary. One funny. Two are rather critically-acclaimed. But which one is the better one?

Shall start with the funny one.
Weifang recommended this one. Before that I already wanted to watch. Caught this with zhiwen at orchard today.

Film: Be Kind, Rewind
I give the film:



Jerry (Jack Black) got magnetised accidentally at a power plant and when he enters the video store ran by his friend, Mike (Mos Def), all the tapes are erased. In order to keep the business from going, they are forced to reshoot the movies by themselves.

Hilarity ensues, of course. But it is the ingenuity and creativity of the film-maker that make this movie such a success.

Jack Black is extremely talented as a comedian and it shows through in this spontaneous material. Classics like Ghostbusters, King Kong and Robocop are 'sweded' in this movie and it is a definite delight to watch.

FINAL SAY: An ultimately heartwarming film as well, this movie pays homage to jazz music (a little bit) and, well, movies, for that matter. You'll definitely have a good time!
~

Spent lots of $$$$ in orchard today! Mainly on food. Bla. Can't wait for my pay. Well, zhiwen mentioned some stuff about life in general which was agreeable. We're all stuck in this spiral of stress. Sometimes, I feel, it's important to delight ourselves in the 'little pleasures' in life. Yup =)
~

Next movie, which is the scary one...

The Orphanage aka El Orfanato
I give the film:



There you go; my first 5-STAR rating this year.

I am tremendously impressed (and extremely spooked) by this hell of a ghost story. A lot of the 5STAR is attributed to the frighteningly original storyline. Not since The Sixth Sense have I been so drawn-in by the power of an excellent, horrifying storyline. This movie works on every single level.

Shocking twists, eerie corridors, freaky children, sudden-scares... you'll find it all here. It's a wonder, seriously, why this is rated PG.

I cannot begin to explain the intricate (but very well-planned) plot. But just know that it's heartbreaking.

There are several very effective scary sequences here (but not in the league of in-your-face asian horror - this movie almost make them seem lame and illogical).

P.S.: remember when we used to play the game AEIOU in primary school? Where one person count and the rest advance slowly from the back, and ultimately when he/she touches the person counting, we must all run? Yup, after you watch this movie, you won't want to play it again.

FINAL SAY: Excellent storyline. Extremely spooky. Heartbreaking but very relevant. Go watch it already!
~

Ahhh, have to book in liao.
Very busy week ahead. Looking forward to this saturday's Marching Band SYF @ National Stadium. Woohoo!

Take care, peeps!

As I Lay Me Down

[play this link only if my playlist is not on auto-play]


I really like this song. Been a soft-spot favourite of mine since I heard it on a CD as my dad drove through the highways and deserts of America back when I was in primary school.

Soothing, nice lyrics.

AS I LAY ME DOWN
by Sophie B. Hawkins

It felt like springtime on this February morning
In the courtyard birds were singing your praise
I'm still recalling things you said to make me feel alright
I carried them with me today, Now

(chorus) As I lay me down to sleep
This I pray
That you will hold me dear
Though I'm far away
I'll whisper your name into the sky
And I will wake up happy

I wonder why I feel so high
Though I am not above the sorrow
Heavy hearted
Till you call my name
And it sounds like church bells
Or the whistle of a train
On a summer evening
I'll run to meet you
Barefoot, barely breathing

(repeat chorus)

It's not too near for me
Like a flower I need the rain
Though it's not clear to me
Every season has its change
And I will see you
When the sun comes out again
~

Take care, peeps!

...28 Days Later

(A sequel to this post)

*Wails* Driving course is officially over! Sad.

End of stay-out. But I'm glad I picked up such a valuable life lesson.


That's my cert and license.
I'm going to miss everybody!! Such great friends. Such great instructors - these uncles have my utmost respect =x

URGH. Returning to unit tonight. Shall not say the reason. Sian.

Anyway, onto something happier (and more HILARIOUS), visit sze's blog:
http://www.szern-aini.blogspot.com/ (30th Mar 2008, sunday's entry)

Take care, peeps!