The 54th Grammy’s

The 54^th Grammy’s is just around the corner, to be aired Feb 12 8/7c on CBS. I know some of us are excited about this since this is the most respected award giving body in the United States, though some says that this caters to older demographics. Anyways, the Grammy’s is also a grand music gathering attended by all music royalties and the here and now stars. Now let’s get the run-down and know if your faves are on the list, I’ve got my bets!

Record of the Year

1.       Rolling In The Deep

2.       Holocene

3.       Grenade

4.       The Cave

5.       Firework

My bet:

Rolling In The Deep

Adele

Paul Epworth, producer; Tom Elmhirst & Mark Rankin, engineers/mixers

Track from: 21

[XL Recordings/Columbia Records]

Or

Firework

Katy Perry

Mikkel S. Eriksen, Tor Erik Hermansen & Sandy Vee, producers; Mikkel S. Eriksen, Phil Tan, Sandy Vee & Miles Walker, engineers/mixers

[Capitol]

Album Of The Year

1.       21

2.       Wasting Light

3.       Born This Way

4.       Doo-Wops & Hooligans

5.       Loud

My bet:

21

Adele

Jim Abbiss, Adele, Paul Epworth, Rick Rubin, Fraser T. Smith, Ryan Tedder & Dan Wilson, producers; Jim Abbiss, Philip Allen, Beatriz Artola, Ian Dowling, Tom Elmhirst, Greg Fidelman, Dan Parry, Steve Price, Mark Rankin, Andrew Scheps, Fraser T. Smith & Ryan Tedder, engineers/mixers; Tom Coyne, mastering engineer

[XL Recordings/Columbia Records]

Song Of The Year

1.       All Of The Lights

2.       The Cave

3.       Grenade

4.       Holocene

5.       Rolling In The Deep

My bet:

Rolling In The Deep

Adele Adkins & Paul Epworth, songwriters (Adele)

Track from: 21

[XL Recordings/Columbia Records; Publishers: Universal-Songs of Polygram/EMI Music Publishing]

Best New Artist

1.       The Band Perry

2.       Bon Iver

3.       J. Cole

4.       Nicki Minaj

5.       Skrillex

My bet:

Nicki Minaj

Best Pop Solo Performance

1.       Someone Like You

2.       Yoü And I

3.       Grenade

4.       Firework

5.       F***in’ Perfect

My bet:

Someone Like You

Adele

Track from: 21

[XL Recordings/Columbia Records]

Best Pop Duo/Group Performance

1.       Body And Soul

2.       Dearest

3.       Paradise

4.       Pumped Up Kicks

5.       Moves Like Jagger

My bet:

Body And Soul

Tony Bennett & Amy Winehouse

Track from: Duets II

[Columbia Records]

Best Pop Vocal Album

1.       21

2.       The Lady Killer

3.       Born This Way

4.       Doo-Wops & Hooligans

5.       Loud

My bet:

Doo-Wops & Hooligans

Bruno Mars

[Elektra]

Best Dance Recording

1.       Raise Your Weapon

2.       Barbra Streisand

3.       Sunshine

4.       Call Your Girlfriend

5.       Scary Monsters And Nice Sprites

My bet:

Barbra Streisand

Duck Sauce

Duck Sauce, producers; Duck Sauce, mixers

[Downtown Records]

Best Dance/Electronica Album

1.       Zonoscope

2.       4x4=12

3.       Nothing But The Beat

4.       Body Talk, Pt. 3

5.       Scary Monsters And Nice Sprites

My bet:

Body Talk, Pt. 3

Robyn

[Interscope Records]

Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album

1.       Duets II

2.       The Gift

3.       In Concert On Broadway

4.       Music Is Better Than Words

5.       What Matters Most - Barbra Streisand Sings The Lyrics Of Alan And Marilyn Bergman

My bet:

Duets II

Tony Bennett & Various Artists

[Columbia Records]

Best Rock Performance

1.       Every Teardrop Is A Waterfall

2.       Down By The Water

3.       Walk

4.       The Cave

5.       Lotus Flower

My bet:

Walk

Foo Fighters

Track from: Wasting Light

[RCA Records/ Roswell Records]

Best Rock Song

1.       The Cave

2.       Down By The Water

3.       Every Teardrop Is A Waterfall

4.       Lotus Flower

5.       Walk

My bet:

Every Teardrop Is A Waterfall

Guy Berryman, Jonny Buckland, Will Champion & Chris Martin, songwriters (Coldplay)

[Capitol Records/ EMI/ Parlophone; Publishers: Edition Pink Music/Hanseatic Musikverklag, Opal Music/Upala Music, Universal Music Publishing, Woulnough Music/Irving Music]

Best Rock Album

1.       Rock 'N' Roll Party Honoring Les Paul

2.       Wasting Light

3.       Come Around Sundown

4.       I'm With You

5.       The Whole Love

My bet:

Wasting Light

Foo Fighters

[RCA Records/ Roswell Records]

Best R&B Performance

1.       Far Away

2.       Pieces Of Me

3.       Not My Daddy

4.       Is This Love

5.       You Are

My bet:

Far Away

Marsha Ambrosius

Track from: Late Nights & Early Mornings

[J Records]

Best Traditional R&B Performance

1.       Sometimes I Cry

2.       Fool For You

3.       Radio Message

4.       Good Man

5.       Surrender

My bet:

Sometimes I Cry

Eric Benét

[Reprise]

Best R&B Song

1.       Far Away

2.       Fool For You

3.       Not My Daddy

4.       Pieces Of Me

5.       You Are

My bet:

You Are

Dennis Bettis, Carl M. Days, Jr., Wirlie Morris, Charlie Wilson & Mahin Wilson, songwriters (Charlie Wilson)

Track from: Just Charlie

[Jive Records; Publishers: Nephew Wirlie Music, Pacific Coast Pirate Publishing, P Ty Music, Escribir Publishing, Mammas Pebbly Publishing]

Best R&B Album

1.       F.A.M.E.

2.       Second Chance

3.       Love Letter

4.       Pieces Of Me

5.       Kelly

My bet:

F.A.M.E.

Chris Brown

[Jive Records]

Best Rap Performance

1.       Look At Me Now

2.       Otis

3.       The Show Goes On

4.       Moment 4 Life

5.       Black And Yellow

My bet:

Look At Me Now

Chris Brown, Lil Wayne & Busta Rhymes

Track from: F.A.M.E.

[Jive Records]

Or

Black And Yellow

Wiz Khalifa

Track from: Rolling Papers

[Rostrum/Atlantic]

Best Rap/Sung Collaboration

1.       Party

2.       I'm On One

3.       I Need A Doctor

4.       What's My Name?

5.       Motivation

6.       All Of The Lights

My bet:

Party

Beyoncé & André 3000

Track from: 4

[Columbia Records]

Or

I Need A Doctor

Dr. Dre, Eminem & Skylar Grey

[Aftermath]

Best Rap Song

1.       All Of The Lights

2.       Black And Yellow

3.       I Need A Doctor

4.       Look At Me Now

5.       Otis

6.       The Show Goes On

My bet:

All Of The Lights

Jeff Bhasker, Stacy Ferguson, Malik Jones, Warren Trotter & Kanye West, songwriters (Kanye West, Rihanna, Kid Cudi & Fergie)

Track from: My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy

[Roc-A Fella; Publishers: Very Good Beats/Hip Hop Since 1978]

Best Rap Album

1.       Watch The Throne

2.       Tha Carter IV

3.       Lasers

4.       Pink Friday

5.       My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy

My bet:

Lasers

Lupe Fiasco

[1st & 15th/Atlantic]

Best Compilation Soundtrack For Visual Media

1.       Boardwalk Empire: Volume 1

2.       Burlesque

3.       Glee: The Music, Volume 4

4.       Tangled

5.       True Blood: Volume 3

My bet:

Burlesque

Christina Aguilera

[RCA Records]

Producer Of The Year, Non-Classical

1.       Danger Mouse

2.       Paul Epworth

3.       The Smeezingtons

4.       Ryan Tedder

5.       Butch Vig

My bet:

Ryan Tedder

For:

Brighter Than The Sun (Colbie Caillat) (T)

Favorite Song (Colbie Caillat Featuring Common) (T)

I Remember Me (Jennifer Hudson) (T)

I Was Here (Beyoncé) (T)

Not Over You (Gavin DeGraw) (S)

#1Nite (One Night) (Cobra Starship) (S)

Rumour Has It (Adele) (T)

Sweeter (Gavin DeGraw) (T)

Who's That Boy (Demi Lovato Featuring Dev) (T)

Or

The Smeezingtons

For:

Doo-Wops & Hooligans (Bruno Mars) (A)

If I Was You (OMG) (Far East Movement Featuring Snoop Dogg) (T)

Lighters (Bad Meets Evil Featuring Bruno Mars) (T)

Mirror (Lil Wayne Featuring Bruno Mars) (T)

Rocketeer (Far East Movement Featuring Ryan Tedder of One Republic) (T)

Best Short Form Music Video

1.       Rolling In The Deep

2.       Yes I Know

3.       All Is Not Lost

4.       Lotus Flower

5.       First Of The Year (Equinox)

6.       Perform This Way

My bet:

Rolling In The Deep

Adele

Sam Brown, video director; Hannah Chandler, video producer

[XL Recordings/Columbia Records]

Best Long Form Music Video

1.       I Am...World Tour

2.       Foo Fighters: Back And Forth

3.       Talihina Sky: The Story Of Kings Of Leon

4.       Beats, Rhymes & Life: The Travels Of A Tribe Called Quest

5.       Nine Types Of Light

My bet:

I Am...World Tour

Beyoncé

Ed Burke, Frank Gatson Jr. & Beyoncé Knowles, video directors; Beyoncé Knowles & Camille Yorrick, video producers

[Columbia Records/Music World]

Now who’s yours?


Courtesy of: http://www.grammy.com/nominees#content

I guess you don't want to go there

I guess you don't want to go there
Then let's not go there
Here is fine with me as long as you're happy
Let's stay here and watch the sunset together.

I guess you don't want to go there
At least your here and free
It seems everything is okay and beautiful
Don't leave yet.

I guess you don't want to go there
The hesitance made me reluctant
I should just live it now
And leave it at that, untarnished?

A letter to one who might've gone away

I want you so bad that i want everything to be perfect,
I don't know how to act
I don't know how to respond
I don't know how begin
I don't even know how to end
'Coz i ain't perfect.

You are everything i expect you to be,
Who is charming
Someone to care
Somebody to love
The one i'll respect
And that's all i can give you and more.

As Soft As Your Voice

Your voice is as sweet as cotton candy,
It may sound cheesy but it's true
I never really believed in love at first sight
But damn i love you the first time i heard your voice.

Distance between us halted this throbbing heart
Just yearning, slowly beating
Waiting and lavishing each second
You could be mine soon.

I know i should not dwell on this
I know it isn't gonna last
I know someone's going to be hurt
I know exactly what's gonna happen.

And it kills me, as soft as your voice.

Kaboomerang!

I'm never going to be caught unguarded again,
It just hurts me more than the reject.
You should have told me,
I hate the prolonged agony.

Haha, this thing I do to myself is such a funny thing,
I'm ashamed of me!
What do I really want?
What is it that will really make me happy and contented?

This broken self is helpless,
I feel and look so ugly.
Truth be told, im so fake!
I'm a mix of frankness and lies.

Boom!
Now that's for you!
Kaboomeranged back to me.
This is such.

Forgive me

You are the perfect definition of someone that I couldn't have.
You are so pure and succulent.
I'm too damaged to sink into you and lavish my desire.
I cant taint you, I shouldn't, I musn't.
I'll just have to look at you.
Brush my fingers over you hair and be mesmerized by your beauty.

Forgive me, i'm damned.
Forgive my intention.
Forgive the lapse in inhibition.
Forgive, for I am not forgiving to myself.
Forgive me.

'11 Christmas Wishlist

Uh oh! It's that time of the year again! What would you want this Chrismas? Everlasing love? Good health? Safe and complete family? Or gadget galore. Hmmmm, since this space in the cyberworld is just an extension of me, I'd say Gadgets Galore!!! I know that is too materialistic of me but there are just too many good stuff now than ever before! haha. Last year I asked for a Sony VAIO but my sister's HP pavilion came. I asked for a Sony Bravia then we had a JVC Musee. Oh no Kenneth Cole watches for me but this cheap Link watch turned some heads! Nokia N8 or iPhone 3Gs, Apple won! Now with iOS5, it's sweet but tad slow. And lastly, Altec Lansing spreakers was downgraded to my reliable Coby iPhone/ iPod dock which is on sale! haha. This year is a domination, a craze, a fad for Apple products. Though rivaled by Samsung/ Android, loyalists still lives on, and I believe I want to be one of them. Starting  off the list is an upgrade left by the late Steve Jobs...

1. iPhone 4S

Who wouldn't want to upgrade to a 4S now? Tell me? I want to meet Siri and I want to bond with it now! haha. Months before, the rumored iPhone was 5, and everybody got it wrong. Jobs left us with a sweet upgrade and it's his memorial resting on our palms.

iPhone 4S. Starts at PhP 30,000 

2. MacBook Air

Another Apple stunner! Again, who wouldn't want this! A perfect marriage of Art and Science. A melodious blending of Style and Power. Three words, I, Want, You!



MacBook Pro. Starts at PhP 43,000

3. A Micro Four Thirds (MFT) digital camera

Damn, I'm still in need of one! My iPhone just won't do it at night! These sleek cameras crops what DSLRs can achieve in an image. Advantage: small in size so you can snap anytime, anywhere, candidly perfect. Disadvantage: Image size, in terms of area is lessened (cropped), but hey, who needs pictures that wouldn't be on a billboard anyway.

Olympus PEN E-PM 1. Starts at PhP 21,500.

Panasonic Lumix DMC GF3. Starts at Php 25,800.

I know this is quite a short list, but they're all that I need and want this Christmas. Santa please grant me one, preferably the MacBook Air, if it isn't asking too much. Prettty, pretty please!

Happy Holidays everyone!

Credits to: Apple.com, Panasonic.com, OlympusAmerica.com and Wikipedia.

A Simple Life

Wishing life is simple as it were before
Free from clutter, free from unfinished duties
Nothing to think of but my life alone
Wishing now that i am small, dreaming.

But life itself is complicated
Simple cannot define life, never
Living came before me, before us
And it will continue and won't turn back.

Cleaning up a mess can be done
But what if they are too many and too messy
I bet you won't know what to do or where to start
It'll leave you comatose.

Missing my old young me, prude and self righteous
I'm too multi-faceted now
I don't even recognize my other selves
I'm confused, surrounded but alone.

I usually sleep awake, constructing
Planning in my inner peace, a slice in my pre-slumber
And when i dream i grab the achievement
But life's not a dream, reality lives.

I can't breath now

Sleepless nights haunt me
I don't know what to feel
The fear of the unknown kills me
And the fear of knowing jolts me

This one, i brought to myself
Aren't I in the same boat again
I should've known better
I know better

Hellos and goodbyes
Acceptance and rejections
Regrets and moving on
Am i ready for this?

I feel the pain
I smell the sorrow
I can't breath now
Lord help me

Nothing

I know that you know theres something about the way i look at you. You don't shut me off. In a way it hurts 'coz i know you care, somehow. But it meant nothing to you, nothing, nothing.  Fuckin shit, nothing!

The One Who Listens (A September Prayer)

I never really thought I belived in God,
but I found myself saying this over and over in my head,
"He won't judge us from what we have, but what we have become for him."
Have I reached a new low?

Frustrations ate me recently,
and it did chew up my confidence and constant shield.
I normally shove these to the side and come out unaffected,
but it did made my gait quiver, but then I let go.

What have I got to do but to move on,
and be the best that I can be.
No pretensions,
though with little apprehensions.

There is a greater being that has held this world before us.
I am not sure if God really looks over us, guiding us.
Though that, I know leaving this world would be meaningless,
if not offering our selves to a greater sense.

With that, I take this prayer,
as a reflection of my acquaintance to myself,
and to God as my re-recognized God and Friend,
when no one else is there to listen.

Magellan's Cross: The Cross within a Cross

"This Cross of Tindalo Wood Encases the Original Cross Planted By Ferdinand Magellan On This Very Site, April 21, 1521."

These are the words engraved on a marble plank mounted on the foundation that erects the Magellan's Cross, so apparently the original cross is inside the wooden cross we see right now on the site. Truly, the cross within a cross.

This site is just off Church of Santo Niño de Cebu, about 5 meters from the church gates, and accross the Cebu City hall (correct me if I'm wrong).

Housed in a concrete structure, it is as well believed that the true cross may have been destroyed and was and is not really "in" the present cross vessel.

The structure that houses the cross

The stonework and steelwork is a beau

"The Cross of Magellan" plaque, circa 1941

The marble plank I was talking about

I was not really 'wowed' by the site until I took this (lol)

Hope to visit more of these historical sites! Go and explore the Philippines!

For more info and info credits: Wikipedia