Hard Candy is full of beats and pounding rhythms and is just fun to listen to. Kanye West, Justin Timberlake, and more make vocal appearances. Good overall pop songs with a little edge to them… sugary sweet like pop songs with some attitude and hardness… Hard Candy, I get it.
I like Sarah McLachlan’s collection since it contains covers of other popular songs (Rainbow Connection, Time After Time, Unchained Melody), has some classics, and beloved remixes (Silence (DJ Tiësto’s in Search of Sunrise Remix).
Check them out, both available for immediate download on iTunes.
Oh those tricky, competitive stars of Dancing with the Stars. Week 7 of Season 6 kicked off the dual dance performances… and some possibly calculated chicanery. This I deem is the legacy of Marie Osmond.
But first, Shannon Elizabeth and her gangly limbs was eliminated after a solid tango and booty busting mambo. Sadly neither Hough sibling is left in the competition with Derek and Julianne relegated to dancing during the musical guest performances.
Back to Marie’s legacy. Competition is so fierce amongst the six (now five) couples that deftness on the dance floor just might not be enough to get the fans’ votes. Being in the media and getting additional attention was the forte of Marie Osmond of Season 5. She perfected this aspect of the reality-based DWTS all the way to the Finals. Such is her legacy.
Now witness the injury to Cristian de la Fuente. Is this just bad luck or Marie’s legacy? Yes, it was reported on the results show that an MRI showed a ruptured tendon in his arm, but with the lowest overall score of the night, Cristian and Cheryl Burke were saved by the fans and will continue on. With only three weeks left in the competition, can Cristian and Cheryl ride this wave of renewed popularity to the Finals? The legacy of Marie Osmond…
Watch at about 1:17 for the injury.
All the competition is forcing the stars to hold nothing back. For her mambo, Shannon Elizabeth donned a prosthetic arse that would make Sir Mix-a-lot beg for a piece of that bubble. Even though Kristi Yamaguchi wasn’t the leader of this week, she’s addressing her critiques of being too conservative. Her performances are becoming more emotional while her wardrobe is showing more Asian skin. She’s definitely gearing up and posturing for a run to the Finals.
Mario and Karina are pushing the sexiness of their dances getting the judges and fans all hot and bothered. The fans responded by getting them out of the bottom two from Week 6. The only couple not employing some gimmicks or shenanigans is Marissa Jaret Winokur and partner Tony Dovolani. In the recent weeks, Marissa has shown breakthrough progress but given the aforementioned action, would you vote for the solid but staid couple? Nope, and Marissa was in this week’s bottom two.
Finally, the leader for this week is Jason Taylor and Edyta Sliwinska. That paso doble done to the theme from Monday Night Football while garbed in Miami Dolphins colors was the highlight of the night.
In my little, little corner of the world, the Starbucks Pick of the Week music promotion is flopping. I’m thinking this is Week 3 of the newly launched promotion, yet I still only find the Counting Crows song from Week 1 available.
Ah yes, here we go, the Starbucks Hear Music site which is focused on the entertainment aspect of the the Starbucks empire is saying this week’s free single is Carly Simon’s So Many People to Love. So the promotion is moving ahead… everywhere else except for the Hawaii Starbucks locations that I go to. 🙁
Come on Starbucks, take a note from this week’s single, there’s so many people to love!
And while you’re at it, fix that date algorithm for the Pick of the Week. Carly Simon available April 29-36, 2008?!? Maybe that’s why I can’t find this Pick of the Week, I have to be in a world of imaginary time.
Update: I got an email with a link to get the free song. But clicking the link prompts for a username and password. On Coldplay’s site, I provided my email address, zip code, and country. No password. I tried the zip code as the password and that did not work. What am I missing? Is the password coming on a later date? I’m confused.
Over the weekend, my in-laws asked about blogging and the purpose behind it. I recently read this blogging primer that does a good job with a high level explanation of blogging – what is it, who does it, what’s it good for?
Coffee-mate is at it again, introducing new flavors. This time, they went international and are featuring flavors from old Italia. Along with the recent additions of Black Cherry Streusel and Cinnamon Bun, Coffee-mates’s World Cafe Collection includes Hazelnut Biscotti, Tiramisu, and Italian Sweet Creme.
Strangely though, Coffee-mate’s web site makes no mention of these new flavors or the World Cafe Collection. What the site does have however is signing up for a free bottle of Coffee-mate. By taking a quick survey, Coffee-mate will mail you a coupon valid for one free bottle of Coffee-mate. Then you can try one of the new Italian jobs.
I went with the Italian Sweet Creme and thought it would be along the lines of the popular French Vanilla. I like it! This creamer does remind me of sweet creme paired with Italian desserts. Yum.
Thanks to Ryan of the Hawaii Blog, I learned that WordPress creator Matt Mullenweg was going to be speaking at the Mac a’hiki TechFest. I normally don’t attend these tech sessions since free time is scarce, but I was intrigued by this Internet celebrity visiting Hawaii.
Running late, I made it to the conference, but Matt was on Hawaiian time so I didn’t miss out on anything. Matt’s talk centered around WordPress (surprise!), its origin, his philosophy, and more. For the crowd present, Matt did a good job showcasing WordPress and blogging in general and probably got a few WP converts and new users from this. Matt also showed off some upcoming work like the Monotone theme designed for photo bloggers. Nice!
What was most impressive wasn’t Matt’s MacBook Air or the fact that he used a Vista laptop for the presentation. It was Matt’s clarity and vision for someone so young. I’m sure by now, he’s done enough public speaking engagements that it’s no big deal, but you can still see and feel his passion for his work. That’s impressive.
As a sucker for kicks, I headed to the grand opening of Steve & Barry’s in Hawaii to check out the Starburys. I’ve never been to a Steve & Barry’s and was surprised to see that they carry a full range of clothing items as well.
The store opened its doors at 9am and at 8:45, there was a short line that went around the corner of the Waikele location. Around 9:15, the people started filing in. Filling the space of the old CompUSA, the store is big with a wide selection for men, women, kids, and infants.
As a grand opening special, everything in the store was priced at $10. This absolutely stirred up a spending frenzy with people buying piles of clothes and shoes.
I found the Starburys, but most of the common sizes (8-10) for some styles were out already. Got to have been employee purchases before the grand opening. When I got there, the boxes were neatly stacked, but sizes jumped from 7 to size 12. I went with the Big Bens instead, liking their looks over the flashier Starburys. But then again at $10 a pair, I shoulda coulda got several pairs.
I would definitely avoid going this weekend. Saturday should be crazy again, and stock must be dwindling after wagons full of clothes were snatched up. Even when prices go back to normal, Steve & Barry’s feature great bargains so save yourself the hassle and headaches and go in about a week or two.
It’s only week 2 of the recent Starbucks Pick of the Week music promotion, and already it’s off to a shaky start in Hawaii. I found the first Pick, the Counting Crows’ Washington Square, but that’s all.
I haven’t been able to find the pick for week 2 at two Starbucks locations. I went on a Tuesday when I thought new songs were released, but my neighborhood Starbucks didn’t have it. I went on a Thursday to a different location, and they didn’t have the new song either. This location was located inside of a Borders, and the workers thought there might be some kind of conflict of interest or something that prevented this location from participating in this free music promotion.
On Friday, I stopped by my neighborhood Starbucks again just to see if the new music pick had arrived but still nothing. Is this a statewide problem, an entire promotion problem, or just plain bad luck for me?
It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that Dancing with the Stars is a hit due to its hot ladies, both stars and dancing pros. And now, this fact has been certified with three current DWTS members making FHM’s 100 Sexiest Women in the World for 2008 list.
Who made the list? None other than Karina Smirnoff (#78), Shannon Elizabeth (#46), and Cheryl Burke (#40). I’m surprised that Edyta Sliwinska didn’t make the list.
