Who is She Wearing?

The title of this blog is a phrase you usually only hear on the telecast of an awards show. people don't actually wear other people, in general. Having a dress that you designed and put your name on on the back of a big celebrity that in on a big, red carpet is a dream that many designers have.

Being on that carpet is a dream that many women have as well. for some it isn't even about the acting or the singing, it's all about the clothes and the flashes.

Belisi Blog: How to Look Like an Oscar Starlet offers you tips on how to achieve that look even if you can't sing a note or act your way out of a wet paper bag (wet paper bags are OUT by the way, I think J Lo was the last star to wear one back in the 90's).

My Last Post About Perla

Comparisons to Shakira are what they are. Perla is a talent in her own right. Here she is doing a cover of a White Stripes song. That's pretty unshakiralike.

Sorry, I wrote the above paragraph before the video loaded. Um, I didn't really enjoy the singing, but a big part of that was the poor audio of the camera phone. She has some sex appeal and lots of confidence. And she has a domain with her name on it.

Consolidated

My personal experience with loan consolidation consists of me thinking to myself that I should consider it as a way to save money and get ahead of my debts faster. But I have never actually had the follow through to get any kind of Loan Consolidation. What I do instead is a complicated juggling act where I try to place my income where it will be most effective as it comes in. I have relatively small debts in several different places. I have credit cards that I make every effort to keep paid in full to avoid purchase interest. It is complicated. Maybe I would be better off with a consolidated debt.

If you are just starting your turn in the rat race, you might want to find out about the Student Loan Consolidation Program that SecureLoanConsolidation.com has. Besides being an application portal, this site also has informative articles and news items related to consumer debt and other topics.

What Happened to Perla Meneses?

I had a couple of posts a while back about American Idol hopeful Perla Meneses. She was being compared to Shakira. There was a very superficial similarity and the girl who was described as long on personality and short on talent was sent packing quite early in the process. If she succeeds despite being judged harshly by the three personalities that are short on various desirable characteristics, she will not be the first. Good luck in life Perla.

Belisi: The Beginning

I'm going to start my post about Belisi - How it Started by getting right to the most important thing. Belisi has really good products, look at this tie.

I thought it was important to show what he's got before I get into how he got there. His story interested me quite a bit because his starting point and where he has arrived are very divergent. My life has been much the same way. I think it is crucial that we all keep ourselves open to inspiration and change.

Peter Belisi began his adult life as a bartender. If he had been on the West Coast, he may have been one of those bartenders who do not concede that that is what they are (do a survey, 99.999% of them are actors). On the Best Coast, Peter was mixing cocktails for the well-healed populace of Palm Beach. He had a young family and he was looking for opportunity. Step one was to dress the part, he invested in a collection of fashionable ties. Step two became apparent when his clientele started praising his style. He started selling ties.

Now Belisi is a line of accessories for men and women. His online presence reflects his ambition and his style. Old World Italian Style is combined with the tastes and attitude of Palm Beach to make the Belisi style. I like it.

The Sincerest Form Of Flattery ???

This makes me want to speak Spanish. I can't find an English word that can accurately describe it, but if there is a Spanish word that fits, it will definately have a couple of muy's in front of it.

I think people have been boosting this woman's confidence without knowing where it would eventually take her. I wish her good luck in all her future endeavors. Wow.

talent

Some Free Software

When I saw the words Norton Antivirus for free I was immediately intrigued. So I went to FreeAntiVirusInfo.com with a bit of trepidation, once I see the word VIRUS I'm usually not in the mood to download anything. I pity all those lonely girls named Melissa that wanted to get to know me back in the day, hope they had better luck IRL.

So anyway, I went to the sight and it turns out they are promoting the free version of Norton Antivirus that is delivered by Google. I trust Google at least to the point where I don't expect any malice from them. I guess I also expect stuff coming from them to work the way it should. They deleted this blog once and I had to write dozens of adamant e-mails before a real person looked at the content and put it back. Thank you Google for being vigilant. I really trust Norton to be the best available protection. Don't go online without adequate protection.

Shakira Asked to Sing National Anthem

The America Cup is an international football tournament that is being held in Venezuela this year. It is reported that organizers have asked Shakira to perform her country's national anthem before their opening match. Shakira has not publicly responded to the invitation.

Here are the words of the Colombiam National Anthem:

CHORUS:
¡Oh gloria inmarcesible!
¡Oh júbilo inmortal!
¡En surcos de dolores
El bien germina ya.

1. Cesó la horrible noche
La libertad sublime
Derrama las auroras
De su invencible luz.
La humanidad entera,
Que entre cadenas gime,
Comprende las palabras
Del que murió en la cruz.

2. Independencia"grita
El mundo americano:
Se baña en sangre de héroes
La tierra de Colón.
Pero este gran principio: "el rey no es soberano"
Resuena, Y los que sufren
Bendicen su pasión.



ENGLISH TRANSLATION

CHORUS:
Oh unfading glory!
Oh immortal joy!
In furrows of pain
Good is already germinating.

1. The fearful night came to an end,
Liberty sublime
Is spreading the dawns
Of its invincible light.
The whole of humanity,
Which is groaning under chains,
Understands the words
Of the One who died on the Cross.

2. "Independence" cries
The American world;
In heroes' blood is bathing
The Land of Columbus.
But this great principle:
"The King is not sovereign",
Resounds, and those who suffer
Praise the passion in it.

A New Health Related Website

The first thing that I want to say in this post is that I think the internet has been of great benefit as far as making health related information readily available. I can remember numerous times where it was a great resource when trying to find out about a particular health problem. Healthadel.com is a relatively new site, but it has some valuable content about all kinds of things from Acid Reflux disease symptoms to a torn rotator cuff. I always look at multiple sources for my health information, this looks like another source to consider.

Shakira the Instrumentalist

If your only experience of Shakira is watching her most popular music videos and her awards show performances, you might not realize that she is a confident musician.

She plays guitar, harmonica and drums. I don't play drums very well myself, but I had this thing at the music room at a school where I used to volunteer. I would play an electric guitar and a harmonica while seated at the drum kit. I always tap my feet when I am playing anyway, so I thought it might be cool to just use the base drum and hi-hat pedals while I played the other two instruments.

Shakira most likely divides her concert set up in such a way that she can go back and forth between standing in one spot playing guitar and leaving the music to others while she dances and sings. I am going to try and source her live concert video for myself soon, it is highly recommended.

I Heart My Credit Cards

Credit cards are an indispensable tool for my life. I need to be able to flex a little financial muscle every now and then. That's a good metaphor, because I am usually a little sore the next month when I work out with my credit card.

Maybe I should look seriously into getting one of these 0% credit cards I should see what the terms would be for a 0% balance transfers while I'm at it.

CreditCards-GB.co.uk is a great site to visit if you want to compare credit cards from many of the major providers. Some of the online offers from these lenders have better terms than you could find elsewhere. I think the side by side competition helps the consumer.

Who Influenced Shakira?

Because Shakira is Latin and because Latin is the name of a genre of music, some people are intellectually lazy and kind of lump her into that category. In reality, she is very much an international pop star, or maybe a rock star. She is a bit hard to peg. Her biggest hits have been dance numbers, but there have been tracks on her albums with a folksy, singer songwriter feel. I am going to search for a paragraph somewhere were she list her influences. Interviewers are always asking singers to do that. Singers must get very tired of that.

Sweet Sweet Music to Chill to

I drive a 20 year old car and there is nothing wrong with the radio. There is, however something wrong with the antenna. It is one of those ones that is stuck to the windshield and half of it has come unglued.

I can't listen to tunes on the radio when I am driving. Thank goodness for internet radio. At least I can listen to whatever I want at home. I am not one of those people who get totally stuck on one genre of music. I will go on little binges. Last summer I ended up with my player on a Californian hard rock station. I don't follow the trends with that type of music, and it was all fresh to me. I loved it for about two days and them I was bored.

There are sounds that I will always come back to. R and B is one of those. Tempted by Squeeze is part of my life. It is the sound, not the lyrics, I swear it. Wally is a man who loves some great old music and he likes to play the good stuff weekday afternoons (3-6 EST). He takes requests by e-mail.

Willy also has a name game going on. You pay 99c to submit a colorful nickname for one of the famous people on the list and you can win a prize. The gears are grinding in my head trying to think of one for Rush Limbaugh...if only he had some kind of human frailty to highlight with a nickname.

Finally, the Beyonce Skakira Duet is Out

I have been waiting for this. Now it is here. I like it. Life is good....wait this is a misleading title, this is not the Beautiful Liar video. At least it is beautiful.

When Spying is the Right thing to do...

I have no problem talking about the subject of spy software. I have teenage children and we manage to work the possibility that they could conceivably have some on their PC's. If we did have spy software, which we might, we would be able to find out where the kids have been going online and who they may have been interacting with.

I could even see a scenario where the spyware would come in handy for monitoring the activities of employees. You know how in XP the start window has a column of icons for the programs that you open most often? I was sharing my computer with someone who was working for us and I was a bit perturbed to see minesweeper show up on that spot. I got over it. But it just goes to show that employees can easily get into a habit of doing their own thing on your time. I prefer to go with the trust thing at the moment, that might be partly because I am observing the people that I trust most of the time.

Does Shakira Make A Lot Of Money On Tour?

Various acts are famous for consistantly breaking records with the money that they gross with a concert tour. It is a shame that many of them do this by having insanely high ticket prices.

Where is Shakira on the list of big 2006 concert tours?

The Rolling Stones/$150.6 million

Tim McGraw/Faith Hill/$132 million

Rascal Flatts/$110.5 million

Madonna/$96.8 million

Barbra Streisand/$95.8 million

Celine Dion/$85.2 million

Bon Jovi/$77.5 million

Nickelback/$74.1 million

Dave Matthews Band/$60.4 million

She's not on the list. I will be sure to check again at the end of 2007.

Steiner Binoculars: Get in there

My best chance to see Shakira this year may be at Wembly Stadium. I haven't even checked about ticket sales. I am probably going to be in the nosebleed section.
If I am lucky enough to get to go, I am going to look into getting some steiner binoculars so I can see what is going on. Steiner have some great models, including the World's smallest full featured marine binoculars. I think that lenses that provide high contrast are probably the best for concert viewing. I only go to a concert once every couple of years but I am always looking at distant birds and ships.

EagleOptics.com is a great place to get binoculars online. Besides their great low prices, they also provide Outstanding Customer Service. They have an Excellent Selection of all the best name brands of optics. You can get Free Financing on orders over $200.

Shakira Wins

I mentioned a week or so ago that there are some haters on the internet that like to post about how bad Shakira's hair looks. I have no way of knowing who they were comparing her to.

I know for certain that with last weeks events related to celebrity hair, Shakira has risen in the rankings by one place. In the past, Britney Spears has been a trend setter. 60% of pole dancers have been dressing like Hit Me Baby era Britney for the last 10 years. Maybe the bald girl look will totally catch on.

The iPhone Fascinates Me

I am not a geeky type of person. But when faced with a page full of new Cingular phones and asked to choose a favorite, I could not stop myself from choosing the iPhone. It's just so new.

I think novelty appeals to me in a vary visceral way. I am going to move past that and try to examine the iPhone in a more detached technical way now.

Cingular is now the new AT&T, and they have both the 4GB and the 8GB iPhone from Apple.

What is an iPhone? An iphone is a revolutionary mobile phone. It also functions as a widescreen iPod with touch controls. On top of those great uses it is also a cutting edge Internet communications device with, web browsing, email, and maps. iPhone features an completely new UI based on a large multi-touch display and radically new software. Apple says that it completely redefines what you can do on a mobile phone.

I think that it was marketing genius as much as necessity that accounts for the appearance of the iPhone. It doesn't look like a phone. I hope that there will be some app's that allow you to customize the look of the screen icons. Apple is very much a closed shop as far as software with this product.

What are other people saying? People who got to use an iPhone ahead of its release think that they are very special. They also REALLY like the phone. From what I can find, it is just amazing how well it works. The quality of the graphics are noteworthy, you can supposedly read the small print on a web page.

I can only imagine what it would be like to have one of these babies and live somewhere with lots of wifi. We truly do live in interesting times, and it's not just because of all the scary stuff.

Horray for Open Borders

I was just looking at Shakira's tour schedule. She it crossing a lot of borders lately. From what I can see she will be waving at the Bundesgrenzschutz 7 or 8 times. Some lucky Bundesgrenzschutz is going to start thinking of this as a relationship.

I have already marveled at the amount of transatlantic flying Shakira has been doing recently. I suspect that she is going to take a long vacation this summer