What's Cooking

I was just browsing around and then bloghopping a li'l bit when I stumbled on this neat piece of news. I am still not over the Harry Potter mania (and I don't think I'll ever be ) so I hope you'd pardon me for posting another related on dit. Well, I found out that not-so-little Daniel Radcliffe is going to star in a TV movie later this year in a drama called My Boy Jack. It's about the story of how the son of author Rudyard Kipling goes MIA during World War I. Jack Kipling had been rejected by the army because of poor eyesight but his father pulled strings so that his son could enlist. From the looks of this picture, Dan looks set to play 17-year old marvelously when the film comes out in November. And it's great to have him foray into more adult roles and not get stuck in the Harry Potter stereotype.

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But for now, I'll settle for this piece of news: Backstreet's back! I thought they were gone for good last year but I thought wrong. And I don't care what people think of them and if whether they're too old to be making music together--which is crap thinking. You can never be too old to make beautiful music and this fellas here are good at it. Unlike some other boybands that sprouted out of the woodwork during the boyband craze, this is one of the rare groups who actually knew what they are doing. And they continue to do so--as they set to release "Inconsolable" in late August. Too bad the group is sans Kev this time around (check out the symbolic empty shoes in that pic--I chose this edited pic for emphasis and for laughs--but of course the official photo doesn't have the danged thing).

Girl Power Is On...Again!

I have to let the news sink in for a few days before I could make an honest reaction to the news of the Spice Girls getting back together. At least a farewell tour with all FIVE of them. And it's only now that I'm actually glad that they are. I never got on the caravan that was the Spice Girls mania all those years ago, only becoming a fan of the group after I saw their concert in Istanbul on TV--that was supposed to be the opening show of their world tour. But then Geri jumped ship and that was that.

And now I'm actually gonna witness their comeback, even if it is being staged as their farewell tour. But better that than nothing else. And this was a long time coming indeed. All five of them have changed over the years and I can't wait to see what kind of production they're going to put out there. I'm sure it won't be anything like that concert in Istanbul. LOL! Excited does not even begin to describe the way I feel about this thing. And check out this beautiful pic of when they announced their reunion a few days past. Very cool, mature, and chic. Nothing like the girls who graced music videos a decade ago.

And check out their reunion promo video here. :o)

And Since It's Father's Day...

To all the fathers who got blown by the wind here in my bloggie, I wish you a very happy father's day. And to fathers of all ye, readers, please greet your greats pops a very happy birthday from moi.


I'm so freakin' shallow 'cause the whole point of this damn post is this list that Victoria's Secret released last month--their "What Is Sexy?" list. Do tell me if you agree or if you don't about their choices. Here it is.


Sexiest Actress - Jessica Alba (I've no problem with that. She is hot!)

Sexiest Actor - Eric Dane (I want more McSteamy! Check out that hot pic. YUM!)

Sexiest Beach Body - Matthew McConaughey (Sure, but I think Ryan Reynolds has a better bod.)

Sexiest Male Musician - Justin Timberlake (Rowena will agree with this, hands down.)

Sexiest Female Musician - Carrie Underwood (Never mind that she won over Bo 'cause she is really pretty cool.)

Sexiest Female Athlete - Danica Patrick (The girl can drive so she has my props.)

Sexiest Male Athlete - Derek Jeter (Could be. But for someone who's a sucker for athletes, it'd be hard for me decide who comes second to Becks. LOL!)

Sexiest Mom - Kate Hudson (I don't think I'd vote for her for this category although I like her as an actress.)

Sexiest Dad - David Beckham (*grin*Yeah! He's the sexiest everything!*grin*)

Sexiest Couple - Jay-Z and Beyonce (Hmm. Okay.)

Sexiest Trendsetting Style - Sienna Miller (Really? I'm not exactly aware of that.)

Sexiest Smile - Josh Duhamel (I love this guy--and now his smile, too.)

Sexiest Eyes - Adrian Grenier (If I can vote for Becks for Sexiest Athlete for his second 'award' then I think I will vote Eric Dane for this category, too.)

Sexiest Legs - Cameron Diaz (I guess VS can't vote for their own and make Giselle win, huh?)

Sexiest Lips - Jennifer Hudson (What?! No Angie?)

Sexiest Cast - Grey’s Anatomy (Ditto!)

Sexiest City - Las Vegas (What happened to Paris?)

Boybands Suck! (part 2)

Sorry. I just love that title so much I had to use it again.

This sudden nostalgia for boybands of years gone by is no thanks to my pal Lee Ann. It has been our tradition to greet each other during birthdays of our favorite boyband members. Two weekends ago happened to be Steo's (formerly of Irish group Boyzone) birthday and I was so bushed that I'd forgotten all about it. And Lee had to remind me about the occasion through a text message--which got a smile from me. It's been a decade since boyband madness and we're still at it, even if our taste in music has evolved (thankfully) over the years.

It took me quite sometime to come up with a list of boybands I've known in the past, just to see if I could come up with one and prolly think back of the songs that made them in one small way or another--or not. LOL! I actually came up with several of them.

CDB--I know they were Aussies and they did covers of "Let Us Groove" and "Get Down On It." I can't remember their names but I know that CDB stood for Create, Dream, and Believe.

World's Apart--I can't remember their faces and never knew their names. But I do remember their single "Baby, Come Back" and its music video set on a beach with four (or was it five?) young men in it.

Take 5--I didn't know their names, can't remember their faces--and it's no wonder since I prolly just saw the video of their remake of "The Tide Is High" less than five times.

Bed and Breakfast--I drew a blank on this group. But I remember their single "If you Were Mine" 'cause Lee had their record and we used to listen to listen to it a million and a half years ago in high school.

OTT--It meant Over the Top--just like how I don't remember them at all. I had to trust Lee when she said they did a cover of "All Out Of Love." Aight.

CITA--Or Caught In The Act. Just like the others, there are no names or faces that come to mind--but I do remember hearing one of the members became a boyfriend of another boygroup member. And I liked their single "Let This Love Begin."

No Mercy--There were three Latino guys in this group and I still like their songs "When I Die" and My Promise To You" up until now.

3T--MJ's nephews. I loved "Anything" (thank God for YouTube) and I happen to remember their faces, just not all their names.

911--Three British guys and the lead vocalist was named Lee. I remember the butterflies in their "The Day We Found Love" vid.

Plus One--An American fivesome that started out as a gospel group. I can recall their faces but never bothered to know their names (I was just about done with boybands when they came out, that's why) although I do know most of the lyrics to "Last Flight Out."

Point Break--I really liked their last single "You" but I also remember having the most irritating time checking the Web about this group--the search results keep on giving me Point Break the movie. (Hmm, come to think of it. It might have been pre-Google era.)

Damage--They were five British guys but I only remember Jade 'cause he's hot (and the on-again, off-again beau of Baby Spice--and now the father of her child, too). They did one of my all-time faves, "Forever."

A1--A British foursome that released a lot of singles. I loved their single "One more Try"

Human Nature--The Aussie foursome who sang in the Sydney Olympics. I think. I liked the Hugh Dancy-lookalike in the group and I loved "Wishes," "Don't Say Goodbye" and "Eternal Flame."

And then there were those who lasted more than their first single.

5ive--A British group that burst into the scene with the upbeat "Slam Dunk The Funk" but my favorite work by them are two ballads: "Until The Time Is Through" and "Closer To Me."

98 Degrees--I prolly wouldn't have liked this group if I didn't hear "Invisible Man"--totally love that song. But totally hated the video for it--too much of a rip-off of Take That's "Back For Good." You can't convince me that it wasn't.

East Seventeen (E17)--An old British group foursome that I came to know when they released their greatest hits album. Their music was disco pop--which was prolly wouldn't sell in mainstream music today. But I still love listening to that record because it was so reminiscent of the '90s. "Stay Another Day" is still a personal hit.

Code Red--For singing "This Is Our Song," I'll always like this group. They did release some other singles but they all paled in comparison to their debut effort.

Westlife--The first reason why I really liked this group was that Ronan Keating co-managed them when they were still starting out. Then they became this huge pop phenomena (except in the US, as usual) and I got tired of them. Although I did enjoy the war of words between their fans and A1's. Funny that.

Blue--This group was a victim of my boyband withdrawal. It took quite some time before I really started listening to their music. I loved their uptempo ballads and they were hot, hot, hot! So, why not?

N'Sync--I was already in love with a number of groups when I heard of them. Had that not been the case, it would have been so easy to become a true blue N'Sync fan. But that doesn't mean I didn't go gaga about them or their songs or their dance routines, not to mention those wonderful live production numbers.

Backstreet Boys--One memory that stands out in my mind was not being able to sleep the night before I bought their first album. That just proved how crazy I was about this group. I used to tune in to MTV just to wait for their vids to come on. AJ, Howie, Kevin, Brian, Nick. That about summed it all.

Boyzone--I still don't get it why I was so freakingly gaga about these five Irish lads. But there it was (is?). From their debut album to their greatest hits album to their post-group ballad collection--I could sing all of their songs, word for word, at one time in the past. I'd probably stumble through some parts in some songs these days but I'd still be okay. BZ for me was the best boygroup after the bestest group there was, Take That.

So, you see, boybands suck big time. They made us fall in love with them (in my case, at least) and the next moment, they just go poof! And some members turn out to be gay. Bad. But I don't give a damn. They're something to keep in my mental archive that's for sure and I'm not ashamed to say that I was once a boyband groupie.

How about ya? Have you ever been terminally crazy about a specific group? Can you recall some groups that came and went in the boyband caravan?

My Favorite Royals

I was in the mood to read and since historicals are all I can stomach right now, I have to steer clear of my novels to avoid temptation--I gave up historicals for Lent, that's why. But then I saw the Feb issue of OK! mag and since it's gonna be March in a few days, I decided to finish reading it. That's when I remembered that I've been meaning to blog about my most fave royals weeks ago--OK! Philippines featured real fairy tales of commoner women marrying into royalty.

Royalty is, of course, one of my favorite topics. I've no other choice since the women in my family are into it. But there were actually times in the past when my interest in the matter begun to wain. And then something interesting happens, say, a royal wedding covered live by international television. Not to mentioned that it is continually reinforced by those damn romance novels I can't seem to live without.

It's not the British royals that I'm so in like with for the past few years now. Admittedly, they're the most popular and the young princes are quite cute in their own way plus the fact that Princess Diana was everyone's favorite royal at home. But through the years I've gone through my British, Monegasque, and Spanish royalty phases. Duh! Like there really should be phases. But that's me.

But for a number of years now, I've been in love with the Norwegian royals. The love story of Crown Prince Haakon and Crown Princess Mette-Marit is too good to be true that it's practically taken right out of my romance novels. I don't wanna create a muck on what their real love story is so try checking it out here and here. It's so unbelievable how human they really are. I mean, royalty has been, and is continually being viewed as, something altogther different with customs and traditions that cannot be breached. But with the advent of modern young royals taking commoners as their spouses, it has taken itself into a whole new direction for what's set in future. And the story of Haakon and Mette-Marit is a prime example of that. Imagine a single mother being swept off her feet by a crown prince--that doesn't happen in real life, only in mushy paperbacks. But it has heppened to them and their beautiful family is just a joy to look at. Fairy tales do come true.

And check this clip I stumbled on on YouTube especially since I don't wanna paste all the lovely pics I found on the couple. I'm more than ready to fall in love.

How about you? Do you have any favorites among the blue-blooded people of the world? How did they become to be your faves?

Seeing Double

After watching Bradley Cooper in Failure to Launch, I just can't help but wonder if maybe Shayne Ward is his singing alter ego. And when I saw Shayne for the first time, when he was performing on Top of the Pops a few months ago, and the first thing that came to mind was: Hmm, I didn't know Bradley could sing.Then there was the first time I saw The Fast and The Furious: Tokyo Drift's trailer. If I didn't know better, I really would have thought it was James Denton I was seeing. He and Lucas Black don't look much alike as Bradley and Shayne do, but Lucas looks like a younger version of the Desperate plumber. On the other hand, James Denton looks like a more mature and a hotter mug of Mr Black.And how about Wentworth Miller and Channing Tatum? These guys have lips that are absolutely to die for! I swear they are related. Even if it goes thousands of years back in their family trees because there's something these two hunks have in common--they max out countless eye candy meters to smithereens. Oh, God, now I'm drooling. (Tiffany: Gross!)I know there are others out there who look like they were separated at birth but I can't think of any more specifics right now. My mind's off to dreamland. Damn Wentworth and Channing!

Becks Did It Again!

When my sis brought home this month's ish of OK! Philippines, the first thing that caught my eye was "Prince Harry Plus 10 More Hot British Boys." Hmm. Christmas came early this year. I love Brits--it's the accent.

And guess who was first on the list? My man David Beckham. (Isn't he delicious in that new Got Milk? campaign?) It's no surprise why I love this mag so much--they've great taste. Becks had already been in their Hot Bods and Hot Dads lists. Ooh la la!

Aight. This was the complete list:

1. David Beckham
2. Prince William
3. Prince Harry
4. Orlando Bloom
5. Jude Law
6. Ewan McGregor
7. Pierce Brosnan
8. Jamie Oliver
9. Christian Bale
10. Chris Martin
11. Clive Owen
    

I'd love to add Ioan Gruffudd and Gerard Butler in it though. Although I love Wills and Harry, it's kinda difficult to describe them as hot when one's foremost memory of them was during Princess Di's funeral procession.

I've no comment about Jude Law except: I hate cheats! There's one word for Bloom, McGregor and Bale--yum! I'm gonna miss Pierce Brosnan's Agent 007 and I absolutely adored Clive Owen's Arthur.

I dunno if I could call Jamie Oliver hot but I can honestly say that he's funny after I saw some of his shows. When I first heard of The Naked Chef, I really thought he cooks in the buff! But don't you just love a man who can cook? And I have no problem with Chris Martin being in the list because Coldplay's music is hot!

Great list!

Boybands Suck!

Gotcha!

Of course not. I just felt like saying that. It's all wishful thinking for me to be able to say that in all honesty. And it took me hearing three straight boyband ballads on the radio to pen down these boyband thoughts. I've been meaning to say something about the topic ever since two Sundays ago. But I was in too much of a funk (about the topic) to do something about it. So two Sundays ago was when I saw the TT special on Star World, Take That For The Record. Of course, it was done several months back because I do know that TT had a comeback tour of some sort earlier this year. Well, it wasn't really a comeback tour but (was supposed to be) a formal bid of farewell after their abrupt breakup more than ten years ago. (But they are back in the studio doing songs again. Yey!) The said breakup was naturally the focal point of the show as the four remaining members of the group--Gary, Mark, Jason and Donald--go on the record of what really was the lowdown of their disbandment. I can't imagine how true blue Thatters fans reacted to the show but for me (who only became a fan of he group in 1995 and learned that Robbie had left the group only a couple of months later), it definitely answered a lot of questions.

Two months of being a fan of Take That as an original fivesome wasn't much. But they happen to be my most fave boyband even up to now. They didn't have fancy dance moves like N'Sync or Billboard-topping singles like the Backstreet Boys. And I know that boyband fans of the later '90s would definitely call them hokey--the Pinoys would've have aptly described them as jologs. But they were a phenomenon in Britain--no doubt sparked the birth of many other groups such as Boyzone or the Spice Girls. Seeing their video for "Back for Good" most likely initiated me to pop culture because I can't remember ever seeing so much MTV prior to that.

For me, they set the bar for everyone else who followed. My all-time fave song is by them--"Holding Back The Tears"--and their Nobody Else album is still one of my most played tapes (yes, tapes). And I still get goosebumps whenever I hear their "Never Forget" single, released coincidentally with Robbie's leaving the group.

Yes, Robbie--who has entertained the world with his solo hits like "Angel" and "Rock DJ," whose own greatest hits album is no doubt the soundtrack of my life. That Robbie. It was disappointing that he didn't meet up with the other guys for For The Record. I guess it was enough that he actually agreed to be interviewed for it and even aired his dirty laundry--how his depression and drinking affected his work leading to the other four to confront him, then eventually have that confrontation as the last time for the five of them to be in one room at the same time. Tiffany whispered to me that Robbie prolly thinks he didn't really need to meet with the guys because after all, he's bigger than Take That was in the global scale. I half agree with her but hope that isn't true.Nevertheless, the show was a greatly needed closure. At least now I won't be wondering Why? when I listen to TT's greatest hits album. Other successful boybands should take a leaf from these lads and give a proper farewell before they disappear into thin air. No matter how late it is. They owe it to their fans, at least. (Hear that, N'Sync?)

The Genius That's Diane Warren

Who hasn't sung to Christina Aguilera's I Turn To You? Or to Mariah Carey's Can't Take That Away? Or how about Taylor Dayne's Love Will Lead You Back?

A few years back, when I saw a Diane Warren interview on that old CNN music show, CNN Beat, I was like, really? She wrote all those beautiful songs? Not to mention that I was in love with songs such as Toni Braxton's Un-Break My Heart, Aerosmith's I Don't Wanna Miss a Thing (from Armageddon), Trisha Yearwood's How Do I Live (from Con Air), and Celine Dion's Because You Loved Me (from Up Close and Personal). It didn't help any when I learned most of the songs from the motion picture Coyote Ugly, sung by LeAnn Rimes, were also written by Ms Warren--Can't Fight the Moonlight, Please Remember, The Right Kind of Wrong, and But I Do Love You. I just love the movie and the soundtrack.

Even up to now, I still marvel at the way she put words together. I've always thought that the greatest love or the worst tragedy are the only inspirations for an artist. But with all of her songs, I simply doubt that. Because how can one be so brokenhearted as to write Exposè's I'll Say Goodbye For The Two Of Us (from Free Willy), fall in love and pen Another Level's From the Heart (from Notting Hill). Another broken heart, another hit--Eric Clapton's Blue Eyes Blue (from Runaway Bride). A grand passion--Faith Hill's There You'll Be (from Pearl Harbor).

No heart could stand that kind of battering. And Diane Warren has been in the songwriting business for a while now. She did Starship's Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now (from Mannequin), Bad English's When I See You Smile, the multi-covered track I'll Never Get Over You originally by Exposè, and Shanice Wilson's Saving Forever For You (from Beverly Hills 90210).

From the duets Could I Have This Kiss Forever (Whitney Houston and Enrique Iglesias) and Just To Hear You Say That You Love Me (Faith Hill and Tim McGraw); to collaborations like Music of My Heart (N'Sync with Gloria Estefan); to radio staples such as Monica's For You I Will (from Space Jam) and Leigh Nash's Need To Be Next To You (from Bounce); even to a theme song from Atlanta 1996, Gloria Estefan's Reach. She probably didn't intend to but Diane Warren successfully wrote songs that are permanently part of the soundtracks of our lives.

As she said in that interview, she wasn't any good at singing so she turned her hand at writing songs. And, boy, am I thankful for that! Whether I hum to a sad song (like No Mercy's When I Die) or to a ballad that makes me smile (like Edwin McCain's I Could Not Ask For More, which is also a part of the Message in a Bottle soundtrack), whatever inspires her, I thank God for a Diane Warren that put words into songs and emotions into music.

(Originally posted at The Kookie Jar.)