Get Those Cards in the Mail

Hola stargazers! January 2011 is at an end and we'll be full swing into February by week's end. It's important to remember not to get so caught up in the new month that you forget to send warm and fuzzy birthday wishes to one of my favorite artists. This Wednesday while everyone else is watching to see if the groundhog will tuck his tail betwixt his nads and scurry back into his hole, somewhere in the world Shakira will be celebrating her 34th birthday.

Shakira will be back on the road in March promoting her latest album, Sale el Sol. The album is excellent, by the way, in case you haven't taken time to give it a listen. However, for this week's selection I delved one album back, to the She Wolf track list, and selected a song released in February 2010. Enjoy.

Shakira - Gypsy

If you happen to run into Shakira, give her a fervent ¡Feliz Cumpleaños! from Reel Whore, but tell her if she wants my big hug and sloppy wet kiss she'll need to come visit me some time.

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Huh, Huh, You Said "Poll"

Evening stargazers! I must apologize for the insufficient postage last week. I had planned for daily updates and barely managed to get two posts published. I've got excuses aplenty, but who gives a shit, really? It's not about dwelling in the past, it's about looking to the future. A perfect sentiment since it's time to recap my last poll and ask for your expert advice with a new poll.

Last time you got to enjoy not one, but two polls. I was looking at the lackluster summer offerings and, using the March to the Box Office Madness bracket currently in contention at the LAMB, I asked:

Of the top ranked films to be released, which made you all tingly?
and
Of the bottom ranked films to be released, which will suck hardest?

I was surprised to see there was no clear cut choice in either scenario. Here's how the voting shook out:

Must-See Summer Movies
(8 total votes)

1 vote, 2-way tie: Sex & the City 2, Twilight: Eclipse
Methinks my wife and sister, respectively, are to blame for those votes.

2 votes, 3-way tie: Prince of Persia, Toy Story 3, The A-Team
If you throw in my vote for Hannibal and the gang, A-Team will be the clear winner. I'm shocked it didn't rank higher for folks.

I did get one write-in vote for Inception. We'll see if it turns out to be the big box office contender.

Must-Avoid Summer Movies
(5 total votes)

Not sure why there was less participation in this poll, maybe these movies are so bad no one cared enough to vote.

1 vote: Despicable Me
Bringing up the rear of intolerable summer movies, or would it actually be leading the pack? I'm confused, but not enough to waste money on this.

2 votes, 2-way tie: MacGruber, Salt
I've got mixed emotions on this one. No surprise MacGruber landed in the bottom considering it's earned a whopping 8.5 million in it's three weeks of release. A horrid number which probably explains why I can now watch it for $1.50 at my second-run theater this weekend. Ouch!

What's the deal with the Salt hatred? Is it disdain targeted at Angelina Jolie, or do people really think it will suck? I'm always up for a good thrill ride, so I'll be seeing it.

***

Moving on to the latest hard-hitting question. Since the summer movie scene continues to both suck and blow, I find myself with considerable heft to my wallet. Since it's a proven fact that the friction between my jeans and cash will eventually burn holes in my pockets, I need to decide how best to blow my wad.

My other special lady friend, Shakira, kicks off her global tour this September in North America. I guess with writing the official song for the FIFA World Cup, she's been too busy to send me VIP passes. Disappointing, but I'm an understanding guy. I'll need to pay my own way, but that means flying to a quality venue to see her since North Carolina is a no-tour zone for any big name artist (Country singers and Old Fogie bands excluded).

I'm trying to decide between the Staples Center in Los Angeles or Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas, and whether to pony up for the VIP Meet-n-Greet or just get some really spanky seats in the crowd.

What do you think:

The Shakira concert: Stay Home, Go, or Go All Out?

The choices:
Be Shakira's VIP in Los Angeles
Consort with common people in LA
Be Shakira's VIP in Las Vegas
Consort with common people in Vegas
Hold out for a NC Concert
Wait for the Tour BluRay

This poll will be a short one, so go vote now!

MMM: All I Want for Christmas

Morning stargazers! Sorry I've been MIA this past week, but I was on the losing end of a battle against the creeping crud that seems to have infested nearly everyone. Thanks to much OTC medication, I am once again functioning normally, though only for four-hour intervals.

Getting sick sucks, but especially so around the holidays. I had to miss out on a couple of Christmas gatherings. So much good food missed, and the fellowship of course. Now as I claw my way through this curtain of congestion back to the land of the healthy, I really need a kick in my Christmas spirit to brighten the mood.

Who better to provide that than one of my favorite singers? While I try to avoid repeating artists too often in my Monday Mood Music, I think you won't mind indulging me. It'll definitely lift my, um, spirits, and get me in the mood; the Christmas mood that is. I hope it'll do the same for you:

Shakira - Santa Baby

Hopefully, this little pick me up along with another day's dosage of drugs will make me myself again. Too much Christmas joy and too many good movies to try and enjoy with dulled senses.

MMM: Did It Again

FINALLY! Today is the day. It's been four months since the video for the title track appeared. For two months I've watched her appear on various talk and variety shows performing her new songs. Everywhere else in the world, folks have been grooving to her album since mid-October, but today is the day us Americanos are let in on the fun.

Shakira's latest album She Wolf is in stores and available for legitimate download. Having her album released on a Monday is no mere coincidence; I'm certain she waited until the holiday week in order to sync her album release with my Monday Mood Music feature.

Just last week, her new video for Give It Up To Me was debuted and features the mandatory collaboration with Lil Wayne to which apparently every artist must now satisfy. This looks to be her big follow-up to She Wolf. However, I am a LAMB, not a sheep and I will not blindly jump willy-nilly to whichever song the promoters designate as radio-worthy.

For those casual Shakira fans, you may not know she released another song between those two. Did It Again was released in September 2009 and it's awesome. Of her three releases, it's easily my favorite. I was unconditionally in love with this track by the first chorus. The accompanying video is equally exciting. Granted, I'm not thrilled to see her rolling around with another man, but I know she did it for promotional purposes only and would never intentionally hurt me. All that hard work did result in an amazingly choreographed bedroom dance sequence! Don't take my word for it, check it out for yourself:

Shakira - Did It Again

Great beat and great lyrics wrapped in a stupendous and steamy (no pun intended) video. I don't know about you, but this little tune is going to be on repeat for the rest of the day.

MMM: My Other Wife

Happy Monday, stargazers! Since last week was all about my 2008 Secret Diary, I thought I'd pass along one more confession to my readers.

Back in 2006, my then fiancé and I were scrambling to get all the ducks in a row for our big wedding in September. We were stressed and exhausted as most people are during this time. However, we had a bigger problem. My bachelor bucket list was still unfulfilled. I had not had the opportunity to occupy the same room as this phenomenal performer. As I had stressed to both my fiancé and our friends several times, I had no intention of going through with the wedding until my wish had been satisfied.

Luckily, she was touring and after hours of fighting with Ticketmaster's crappy online service, I scored a pair of tickets...at the Taj Mahal in Atlantic City. If you don't know, we live in North Carolina but this was the closest and best venue. The first of September we hopped the Amtrak and railed our way up to that uh, 'unique' city. The winds and rain that weekend were insane, the remnants of Hurricane Ernesto still lingered along the Atlantic Coast. That didn't stop us from making the trek out of our hotel and finding our great seats at stage right, less than a hundred feet from the stage.

The lights dimmed and Shakira's Oral Fixation concert began. It was awesome! At one point, she went stage left into the audience and performed in the exact mirror of my location. I was pumped to think she would similarly bless our side with her presence, but devastated when she never did. Still, it was a phenomenal evening. We weren't quite lucky enough to run into her while walking the Boardwalk which is probably for the better. Had she had the opportunity to meet me, I'm certain she would have been instantly smitten. I would have been whisked away with the tour and all those months of wedding planning would have been ruined.

Shakira hit it big in the US back in 2001, though her first official hit was released in her native country of Columbia in 1995. Shakira is an astounding performer. She has done little wrong in my eyes in her career (well, except for not venturing stage right that night). Today, February 2, she turns 32 and I'd like to treat everyone to that first hit from her album Pies Descalzos:

Shakira - ¿Dónde Estás Corazón?

I could go on at length about her career, her greatest videos and my favorite songs, just ask my wife. Instead, I'll save that for another mood music. FYI, the translation of the title is Where Are You, Love?. I was stage right querido, I was stage right.

Happy Birthday, Shakira!