Eurovision 2013

As a fan of the Eurovision Song Contest, I, of course, enjoy picking out my favorite songs and acts each year. It's been over a year since I was able to keep up with Eurovision. I was absolutely shocked when I went through the contestants this year and saw that Turkey is not competing in this year's Eurovision. Turkey released a statement, which was reported by esctoday, that they will not be competing because of the change in voting (the voting will be 50% jury vote and 50% fan vote) and since the Big Four (Germany, Spain, Great Britain, and France) were changed to the Big Five (Germany, Spain, Great Britain, France, and Italy).

The Big Five get pushed through into the final round without having to compete against the other songs. Usually, five songs were automatically pushed to the final round: the Big Four and the host country's song. So the countries already in the final round of this year's contest are Germany, Spain, Great Britain, France, Italy, and Sweden.

As I said previously, every year I pick my top ten (sometimes more) favorite songs. Again this year I picked my ten favorites:

1. Germany - Cascada  I have been a huge fan of Cascada since their first single, so I'm super excited about them competing this year.
2. Denmark - Emmelie de Forest  & Norway - Margaret Berger  I honestly love both of these songs and both performers are stellar so I can't decide. 
3. Netherlands - Anouk at first I was a little skeptical, then I heard her sing. She has a lovely voice and I think she is awesome. 
4. Greece - Koza Mostra & Agathon Iakovidis This song and video are so much fun and the band is really good. 
5. France - Amandine Bourgeois A really good song, love the whole dark spooky vibe. 
6. Finland - Krista Siegfrids This is so much fun and a little creepy stalker. Very befitting of a Finnish Ke$ha. 
7. Iceland - Eyþór Ingi Gunnlaugsson Such a beautiful video, song, and voice. Thank you, Iceland for just being plain awesome.
8. Israel - Moran Mazor I always look forward to Israel's entry and this years' is quite excellent. 
9. Ireland - Ryan Dolan  Finally! Ireland sends someone besides Jedward. I'm so happy about Ryan being in the contest: good song good voice - I think he will definitely be one to watch. 
10. Slovenia - Hannah A really good song. I always watch Slovenia's contestants and am always underwhelmed. This year, they finally delivered. Though not the strongest song in the competition, it is a very good entry and I think she'll go very far. 

So here are some other songs I really liked just don't feel like ranking:

Estonia - Birgit, Russia - Dina Garipova, Montenegro - Who See, Cyprus - Despina Olympiou,  Belgium - Roberto Bellarosa, Malta - Gianluca Bezzina, Hungary - ByeAlex, Switzerland - Takasa, & Spain - ESDM  

I hope you enjoy my list. Here, is a list of all the entries in this year's Eurovision. It is a really fun contest and experience, so my suggestion is to make a list maybe make one with your friends and follow the contest. 

Tiny Furniture Review

So I have been dying to see this film. I have no idea why but when I watched the trailer I instantly had the urge to watch it. Needless to say great trailer. Anyway, I had no idea what to really expect about this film a girl comes home after graduating from college and has to deal with life. Thousands of stories and movies have been made about this subject but none, that I have seen, have done it as honestly.

Lena Dunham, lead actress, writer, and director, made a film that is almost a documentary. Every character delivers lines that feel natural and like you are watching people have conversations in real life, not a film. The circumstances are completely normal, average, and mundane in every way, and that is the beauty of this film. A perfect example is when Aura, played by Lena, brings her date home and shows her pet rat to him and the rat is dead. An extremely awkward situation handled in a completely human way. Other scenes that resonated, well every scene with highly dysfunctional Charlotte, deftly played by Jemima Kirke, everything this girl does is so wrong and completely stupid and everyone knows someone like her. Then there is as Charlotte termed him "loafer" Jed, played by Alex Karpovsky, his character is of an intellectual comedian from Youtube that has achieved mild notoriety but lacks moral character. Most of Aura's new friends that she begins hanging out with after she graduates and returns home fall neatly into the lacking moral character. Charlotte is an entitled addict that needs Aura undivided attention: she means well but is fairly useless and unable to let Aura be friends with anyone else. Jed, well he's a loafer that is unwilling to be emotionally vulnerable or sexually available to Aura and wants to be in a comfortable relationship where he sponges off of Aura. Then there is Keith sous chef chief douche bag and wonderfully played by the very sexy David Call. I had seen David in Across the Universe and he did a fantastic job of playing Max and was looking for another movie with him. Well, I was joyfully surprised to see him in this film. He did a wonderful job of getting us attached to his character and wooing us along with Aura. There were so many moments when his character revealed that he was undesirable as a partner etc but he was still irresistible much like many one hookup cheating Xanax addicted users in real life. I think that is this films main strong point is that every character is real and every scene is real. Anyway, totally a must watch for indie film fans and fans of awkward moment movies.

Printers!

I, for the last week, have been shopping for printers. This has proven to be the single most tiring and exasperating experience that I have had the great displeasure of experiencing in the last few weeks. I have read boxes, reviews, online descriptions, attempted to make sense of the confusing printer lingo, and wondered what cable is included in the box with the printer.

This "little" project was spurred on by the marvelous realization that for every ink cartridge that was bought for my current printer, a new printer could have been purchased. Now my ink cartridges are low and my current printer is dying slowly but surely, piece by piece (the printer head has decided to act flakey and that my paper could be enhanced by printing several sections of them in grey instead of black). The time to begin the grueling process of researching and deciding which piece of printing mayhem is best has beset me like a bloated elephant falling from an airplane on an unsuspecting Volkswagen.

 This process would be simpler if I didn't have such demanding requirements for my printer. I will now summarize my findings in an imagined conversation between me and a snotty sails clerk, though I never had the distinct pleasure of talking to another human being while going through the special hell that is buying a printer.

 Me: I would like the printer to print on paper, not leaded glass, animal skin, or french bread, just normal paper. Further, I would like it to be able to scan and copy things. Simple really, these of course are the easiest features to come by in a printer. (Now comes the tricky bit) I would like it to plug into my computer.

Imaginary salesclerk: Oh my god, no, this can't be, printers must never plug into a computer with these options, that is simply not done.

Me: So, what do they plug into then if not the computer?

Imaginary salesclerk: Well they all have to plug into the wall still (non electric printers have yet to be made) and some can plug into ethernet cables, but, for the most part, they are all now wireless.

Me: So how do I print things from my computer?

Imaginary salesclerk: Well, your printer can pair through bluetooth, but you have to send files and that can take a long time sometimes, others you can email the file to the printer, and some just work on wifi.

Me: Oh, but I don't have wifi.

Imaginary salesclerk: You don't have wifi, you don't have wifi?

Me: Ssshhh, keep your voice down will ya, I don't want anybody to know.

Imaginary salesclerk: Then how do you use your computer?

Me: Ever heard of Ethernet?

Imaginary salesclerk: No, really? You have a laptop and you use an ethernet cable?

Me: Yeah, what of it?

Imaginary salesclerk: How archaic.

After now being insulted by an imaginary salesclerk and ever manufacturer of printer sold in big box and office stores I came to the realization that I'm still living in the stone age. So to get a printer that has a USB cable I evidently have to have a fax machine thrown into the mix. But there are still two more features I would like, god help me, I'm so demanding. Now these two are completely superfluous, but if I find a printer that has all of these, I'll buy it even if I have to mortgage my mother: a screen, doesn't have to be touch just something that tells me the progress the printer is making, and a USB port on the front so I can print from a thumb drive or scan to a thumb drive. Did you feel that, the world just came to an end. To get all of these features can, and often does, cost upwards of $150!

I found one printer that has everything I want: I'm not sure of the USB cable status, the website description say it has a cable but for all I know that cable might be for our next assent up Everest.

Life has this tendency to make itself excruciatingly difficult and little things like printers are the mountains that later become mole hills while you are being run over by a bus. It is hard not to complain about these trivial things, but seriously all I want is a printer. I'm not asking for world peace, lower oil prices, a reasonable Republican presidential candidate, just a printer-scanner-copier combo thingy at a reasonable price that has a USB cable thing. Is that unreasonable? Of course it is, I'm asking for the moon. I'm going to go take a long bath with several rubber ducks and not come out until every one is connected to each other via Facebook and wifi. Oh yeah, and Happy New Year.

Some collected wisdom.

All changes, even the most longed for, have their melancholy; for what we leave behind us is a part of ourselves; we must die to one life before we can enter another.  ~Anatole France

Without accepting the fact that everything changes, we cannot find perfect composure.  But unfortunately, although it is true, it is difficult for us to accept it.  Because we cannot accept the truth of transience, we suffer.  ~Shunryu Suzuki

The man who looks for security, even in the mind, is like a man who would chop off his limbs in order to have artificial ones which will give him no pain or trouble.  ~Henry Miller

There is a certain relief in change, even though it be from bad to worse!  As I have often found in travelling in a stagecoach, that it is often a comfort to shift one's position, and be bruised in a new place.  ~Washington Irving

Time is a dressmaker specializing in alterations.  ~Faith Baldwin

You can avoid having ulcers by adapting to the situation:  If you fall in the mud puddle, check your pockets for fish.  ~Author Unknown

I put a dollar in one of those change machines.  Nothing changed.  ~George Carlin

We did not change as we grew older; we just became more clearly ourselves.  ~Lynn Hall

Those who expect moments of change to be comfortable and free of conflict have not learned their history.  ~Joan Wallach Scott

Continuity gives us roots; change gives us branches, letting us stretch and grow and reach new heights.  ~Pauline R. Kezer

If you would attain to what you are not yet, you must always be displeased by what you are.  For where you are pleased with yourself there you have remained.  Keep adding, keep walking, keep advancing.  ~Saint Augustine

We all have big changes in our lives that are more or less a second chance.  ~Harrison Ford

Pain is inevitable.  Suffering is optional.  ~M. Kathleen Casey

If you're going through hell, keep going.  ~Winston Churchill

We have no right to ask when sorrow comes, "Why did this happen to me?" unless we ask the same question for every moment of happiness that comes our way.  ~Author Unknown

A bend in the road is not the end of the road... unless you fail to make the turn.  ~Author Unknown

Turn your wounds into wisdom.  ~Oprah Winfrey

You may not realize it when it happens, but a kick in the teeth may be the best thing in the world for you.  ~Walt Disney

When the Japanese mend broken objects, they aggrandize the damage by filling the cracks with gold.  They believe that when something's suffered damage and has a history it becomes more beautiful.  ~Barbara Bloom (Dunno if it’s true but it’s a great sentiment)

I have sometimes been wildly, despairingly, acutely miserable, but through it all I still know quite certainly that just to be alive is a grand thing.  ~Agatha Christie

I believe there are more urgent and honorable occupations than the incomparable waste of time we call suffering.  ~Colette

Smooth seas do not make skillful sailors.  ~African Proverb

There is no education like adversity.  ~Disraeli

Adversity introduces a man to himself.  ~Author Unknown

Life didn't promise to be wonderful.  ~Teddy Pendergrass

Adversity is the first path to truth.  ~Lord Byron

The beauty of the world has two edges, one of laughter, one of anguish, cutting the heart asunder.  ~Virginia Woolf, A Room of One's Own, 1929

To have become a deeper man is the privilege of those who have suffered.  ~Oscar Wilde

Life is thickly sown with thorns, and I know no other remedy than to pass quickly through them.  The longer we dwell on our misfortunes, the greater is their power to harm us.  ~Voltaire

Shit happens, deal with it. Life never promised to be easy, expecting it to be easy is wrong. ~ Me

Life never throws us the easy balls: it’s always bottom of the ninth and you have one more strike and the pitcher just threw a fast curve ball. In the end all you can do is swing and hope and pray for the best. ~ Me again

Life expects us to make a tie breaking field goal from the 50 yard line, last few seconds of the second quarter, at the Super Bowl. ~ Me yet again

Yes I like sports analogies. 

Madonna

Why is Madonna one of, if not the greatest pop star that ever lived? Is it the gap in her teeth, her devil may care attitude toward critics, her relentless dedication to pop music, her shock value, her dance routines, or is it simply a combination of all of these things and then some? Pretty much. Madonna has been making hit records since the early 80s and has been an icon longer than I've been alive. And there is a good reason for this: she is amazing! Yes, I'm a big fan. Yes, I own several of her albums: 11 to be exact (1 concert, the 3 greatest hits compilations, 6 studio, and 1 soundtrack). And there are still some that I need to get.

Madonna.com lists her albums by type and the number is, a staggering, 25 albums (this includes compilations, soundtracks, and remix albums) They exclude the concert recording of The Confessions Tour under the live albums but it was bundled with a concert video so it's understandable. Her site also lists her singles: 69 of them.  According to her Wikipedia page, she has 75 singles considering the fact that her website left off any singles from Hard Candy, I'm likely to believe that number to be slightly closer to the actual number of singles she has released. Again according to her Wikipedia page, Hard Candy was her 37th Billboard Hot 100 top ten hit. She has had 11 number one singles on the main chart and 39 number one dance over the span of 26 years. In comparison, Cher has made 25 albums, 76 singles (in a 46-year span), and only 4 number one singles, 1 number one dance single, and 9 number one club singles. Lady GaGa has had 16 singles I cannot find officially how many have been number one hits (pretty much all of them). She has done three albums in my opinion (fame monster is a separate album form the fame). Britney Spears has released 7 studio albums, 4 compilations, and 37 singles. According to her Wikipedia discography only 4 of them made number one status, I know that a lot more of her singles made number one slots just no official data. Christina Aguilera has released 6 studio albums, 1 compilation, 30 singles, and 4 of those singles hit number one. P!nk has released 5 studio albums, 1 live, 2 compilations, and had 26 singles, which 3 hit number one. Kylie Minogue has made 11 studio albums, 4 live, and 9 compilation albums and 51 singles. Only 4 of her singles have been charted in the US and all 4 hit number one on the US dance chart.  Now all of the chart information and number of albums is from Wikipedia so if you know better or have better sources please step up with them.

With all of the album nonsense out of the way, it becomes clear that Madonna has made more than all of the rest excluding Cher but she has been recording longer. Furthermore, more of Madonna's singles have hit number one on the mainstream as well as the dance charts. Now besides her prowess at making albums and topping charts. There remains the issue of who has sold more. According to the Guinness Book of World Records, she has sold 275 million albums making her the hands-down winner.

Now beyond record sales and hits remains the actual talent portion. She definitely has a certain amount of talent:

And finally, the video that endeared Madge to me even more, even though I love hydrangeas: 

Basically, love her or hate her she is the greatest female, hell, the greatest pop star that has ever been. Lady GaGa is the only one of the new batch of pop stars, aka anybody post-1997, that can rival Madonna for her star power. Then again Madonna is slowly starting to slip further and further from the center of focus in today's ever-increasing world of pop music. Hopefully her new album due out next year will push her back into Public focus. 

Now bear with me for a few minutes longer. I love all of the pop stars mentioned in this post. I have neglected to mention a few like Katy Perry, Beyonce, Rihanna, etc. mostly because we know that they have serious star power. Katy Perry and Rihanna are great talents but they don't really possess the type of star power that is needed to rival Madonna and they have yet to become legends so they must wait until they develop further or have a bigger catalog. Beyonce is slipping, her star power is fading fast. Her last few albums have been rather lackluster to say the least and besides she is technically an R&B Singer, not a pop star so there. 

Yes, Britney has fallen from pop grace but Femme Fatale is a very strong pop album and as long as she stays on top of the trends she may actually be able to take on GaGa in the near future instead of appearing on a Rihanna track as a guest vocalist for a remix.

Christina still has it her voice is still stellar and her songs are uber crap. I mean they make Britney songs sound good some times and that is saying something. However, the songs that Sia wrote for Christina on Bionic are stellar. 

P!nk, yeah she is still freaking awesome, and she could get to where Madonna is but I think she is more likely to quit and form a punk band before she could.

 Kylie is, well, not international enough to really do any major sales outside of Europe, Australia, and New Zealand. She every few years has an album that does well here in the US and occasionally in Asia but after that, it's years again until she has any success. Fever was the last album she had that really did anything in the US before the release of Aphrodite and Fever was released in 2002. 

GaGa is by and far more likely to beat Madonna at her own game than any of the other girls, mostly because she is a 21st (maybe 23rd) century Madonna on steroids. She has given up even pretending anymore and keeps making allusions to Madonna. 

So yeah this pretty much details why Madonna is so freaking awesome and so on and so forth.