Tasty Wines

Since my wife and I spent some time in Europe, the home of delicious and reasonably priced wines, I've developed some definite Champagne and Winepreferences. We drink a glass of red wine with dinner almost every night, and we particularly like Merlot. Of course, red wine doesn't go with fish very well. Then only a light white wine will do.

Over the last holiday season we bought a lovely bottle of tawny port from Porto, and that was thoroughly enjoyed with cheese, fruit, and even mincemeat tarts. But I think the most special bottle of wine we ever shared was the Moet champagne we uncorked when we were finally alone together on our wedding night!

Shakira Really Likes Chocolate

I think if you have the metabolism to burn off the calories chocolate is just about the most innocuous obsession that you can have. Shakira has said on more than one occasion that it is one of her weaknesses.

Britney Spears listed iced coffees as her addiction back when she was 18.

Shakira reportedly drinks a lot of coffee too.

DaycareBear.com Helps Parents

DaycareBear.com is an online service that offers Free daycare listings. It is a searchable resource that American parents can use to find an appropriate spot in daycare for their child. Your search can be refined to your location and your circumstances. The results will include providers with current and/or future available openings. Providers update availability in real time, so checking often is a good strategy for parents.

World Music Sampler #10

I love the djembe. It is a traditional drum that is common to many African cultures. Hippies play them sometimes, too. I still love them. I have a friend who builds these drums and also has percussion workshops at elementary schools.

Free Classified Ads

The main emphasis of It's My Market is free classified ads. Buyers and sellers can communicate freely. The layout is uncluttered and inviting to users. Besides buying and selling, there is also a lot of things like community events announcements on the site.

A visitor is free to look for things UK wide or they may choose to restrict their search to a smaller geographical area.

I am going to test out the sight with an imaginary need. This could be a bumpy ride, as I have a strange imagination...

Ok, I need a bike. Pretty boring need, but needs can be fairly basic sometimes.

Still on UK wide search, I typed bicycle into the search box and got 5 hits.

What do you think, do you suppose she's taken it over any sweet jumps? Since it's just an imaginary need, I am not going to contact the seller and offer him the imaginary money that I have.

Shakira Goes Shopping

Given Shakira's particular fashion sense, it is no surprise to hear that she went on a shopping spree during her time in India.

My source lists purchases that include cotton saris, books on Indian spirituality and a lucky charm meant to ward off evil. The charm is a replica of the string of limes and peppers that people hang on car fenders.

Mother's Day Is Coming Up

I have a very hard time remembering when Mother's Day happens. I know it is the spring, because we used to go pick Mayflowers for my mother. If we were being passive aggressive, we would imply that it was in honor of her coming over on the Mayflower. Sometimes jewelry is a better choice.

If you are looking for Unique Mother's Day Gifts for Moms amd Gift ideas, Collectibles Today is a great place to start. Most of what they have for sale is exclusive to their site. Thanks to the site, I won't forget that Mother's Day is May 13th, 2007.

They have music boxes, I love these things. I'm going to browse and see what songs they play, maybe you will see a song that has special meaning for you and your mum on my list.

"You Are So Beautiful"
"Always In My Heart."
"Ave Maria"
"All I Have to Do is Dream"
"You Light Up My Life"
"I'll be Home for Christmas"
"Immaculate Mary"
"Ode to Joy"
"Sing of Mary, Pure and Lowly"

I live next to a beautiful church that has musical bells. Sometimes the noon bells are playing "Ave Maria", actually, it is this time of year because of lent. I can't recall what the bells played during carnival week. I know it wasn't the UK remix of Eddie Murphy's "My Girl wants to Party All the Time." That was playing in the streets a lot.

My kids really like "Ode to Joy." It's probably the melody that holds up the best to repetition of all of them.

Some of the music boxes are in the form of intricate Faberge style eggs. Others are actual boxes. I didn't add this to my list but there is a crazy looking one that plays 15 different Christmas carols. That might not be a good Mother's Day gift.

Don't forget that jewelry is always a popular option for any occasion. At Collectibles Today, all of this stuff has sentiments enscribed on them.

Shakira And Her Mom

When all the collaboration and mutual admiration started going on between Shakira and Beyonce, at first I thought it was a contrived thing cooked up by record execs.

Eventually I realized that one thing they have in common is that their parents are still an everyday part of their lives. Shakira always travels with her parents. Beyonce is managed by her father. Maybe the thing that they have in common is family values.

Britney Spears does not seem to have family values. Her mother had played a part in her earlier career, but had given the reins over to more professional types. Maybe that was a bad move for everyone.

Romance is Beautiful

I am a grown man with a blog about Shakira.

I do have a girlfriend (I've been calling her my wife most of the time since we got married). She probably notices that I pay a little more attention to this music blog than the other ones that I am writing. I sometimes bring her over to my keyboard to watch a Shakira video that has a real feel of romance to it.

Right now I am staying up to write this blog when I should be going to bed with her. Romance is about connecting. I am going to go AFK for about a minute and then come back.

Now that I kissed her goodnight, I am going to type up on these little laptop keys that are too darn close together, but much quieter than my USB keyboard so she can get to sleep. Romance is about being considerate and caring.

I am always hesitant to offer anyone romantic tips because I really feel that people are either meant for each other or else they are not. I would be tempted to help out someone who was actively seeking help. Love does require some work in order to grow into a relationship.

RomanceForEveryone.com has eHarmony dating tips for both men and women. I had already found my mate when eHarmony really got going. Searching for a mate online has some huge advantages. One of the biggest ones is just the shear volume of people to choose from. Luckily sites with lots of information enable you to eliminate unsuitable suitors efficiently. My advice for everyone is DON'T SETTLE.

World Music Sampler #9

If you grew up in North America, you may have gotten pan flute overload from the Zamfir guy that sold instrumental albums on television. That is a shame, because it really is a beautiful instrument. This is a Peruvian musician.

Shakira uses this sound in some of her music production, I don't know if it issamples or live musicians in the studio. That's something that I should try and find out.

Recording Phone Calls

The only time I have ever really wished that I was able to record phone calls was after a business partnership began to go sour. It was my first time having an important business partnership with someone that I only knew online and over the phone. We were living in different countries in fact. Long story short, this person was dishonest and, like many semi-successfully dishonest people, a lot of the things that could be pointed to in hindsight were said over the phone.

Recording phone calls is legal in pretty much every situation as long as the second party is given notice that they may be recorded. Businesses do it all the time. The wording of the announcement is usually about Quality Control which is probably true to some extent, but they are also creating a document that they can use to cover their asses when a customer makes exaggerated claims about what was said.

BrickHouseSecurity.com has some pretty neat hardware that can be used for recording calls that you get on your cell phone. They also sell products that you can use from your end to prevent the other party from recording your call. Thank you Brick House...I have the sort of brain that has to go and find out how that works now.

Funny Video Project

There's this very funny American comediene that has a song that goes:

Thank you Momma, for makin' me gold pants,
Ones I can dance in, and make romance in.

There is a Youtube video or two that features Shakira shaking her ass in gold pants.

I lack the technical know how, and the motivation, to do a fun mashup of these two phenomena. Please somebody help me.

And Now For Something Completely Different: Backgammon

I'm not sure what Shakira does to help time pass during the relentless travel involved in being a touring musician. I once read a cool interview with a guy who was in a band and took up Scrabble when he quit smoking. He became hopelessly hooked on the game. He even made the interviewer play a game with him. Backgammon is in some ways similar to scrabble.

Both scrabble and backgammon are very tactile in nature while also being very cerebral. I have to confess that I have very little experience with backgammon, it is one of those games that isn't fun until you start getting good at it. I didn't have the patience. This new program with an animated backgammon playing tiger looks great. Here is a catch 22, the board games usually come out during a power outage these days. I may have to get my game on with this website so I can have an unfair advantage over everyone else in the household. Here is some details about Jean Claude the BackGammon Master:

http://www.BackgammonMasters.com is using a ground-breaking and original approach to promote and establish their skill game software in the online game market. Introducing the #1 Player at BackgammonMasters, Jean-Claude the animated tiger. BackgammonMasters creates a new dimension in online backgammon branding in their 5 part interactive animation series titled 'Life According to Jean-Claude'. Jean Claude - Backgammon Masters Animated Tiger Movie BackgammonMasters brought this character to in a well-designed and cleverly scripted effort to illustrate to a wide audience the appeal of backgammon as a skill game truly loved and played by all people, from all walks of life from around the world. Jean Claude is BackgammonMasters' pioneering mascot who is setting a new standard in online game entertainment. Viewers win prizes for trivia questions after viewing, and are offered rewards for suggestion any script ideas used. Clips can be easily forwarded to friends who will create the viral marketing buzz that only a character like Jean-Claude is capable of generating. "BackgammonMasters creates a new dimension in online backgammon branding in their 5 part interactive animation series titled 'Life According to Jean-Claude'." In the series we are exposed to a hilarious explanation and comparison by Jean-Claude of how to succeed at everything from playing backgammon to chopping onions, to fulfilling ones dreams and make important life choices. In the opening clip we, find Jean-Claude, a tiger, humoristic, mafia type, dressed in 70's clothes (bell-bottoms and cream-colored shoes, a button-up shirt with a dice print and a large dollar sign chain around his neck) sitting in his trailer in the used junk car lot he manages. No, he doesn't feel pathetic or sad amidst the junk, on the contrary. He is full of street smarts obtained during his many years in the University of Life. BackgammonMasters has maintained a high profile in the news lately not only because of Jean-Claude, they also recently launched a 3-in-1 game lobby offering games such as Backgammon, Poker and Perudo (Liar's Dice), all in one download. To get a sneak peak at the animations go to: http://www.backgammonmasters.com/jc.html To download the BackgammonMasters 3-in-1 free software go to: www.backgammonmasters.com Report by Gammonish.com - online backgammon resource for news and information. To learn more about the backgammon game and online backgammon rules visit http://www.gammonish.com.

Don Omar Remixes 'Beautiful Liar'

I have a confession to make. I was not actually very impressed with the track 'Beautiful Liar'. I will have to update my opinion when I get a chance to here the official remix.

Don Omar was sought out by Beyonce's father and manager Mathew Knowles. Don is excited about the huge opportunity to break into mainstream music.

Don has a charitable foundation that helps autistic children. Both Shakira and Beyonce are noted for their charity work as well.

Sources for this post: SOHH Latino, Wikipedia

Focused Personals

I don't have anybody that I am trying to fix up these days. There have been times when I would come across a niche personals site like this Black Dating Service and immediately have someone in mind to show it to. Personally, I think having a common cultural frame of reference is very valuable to a happy relationship. That has almost nothing to do with skin color, but at the same time, Black American culture is unique and different.

Shakira to Take it Easy on the Indian Food

Indian cooking is noted for its rich and spicy foods. The people responsible for feeding Shakira while she is in Mumbai have been asked to provide light healthy food for the performer. This means stuff like lettuce, feta cheese and fresh fruit. Her crew will be catered to with all the typical Indian foods like tikkas, dal and different Indian breads. I am drooling on the keyboard now.

Source...

Help with Home Loans

I have looked at more than one loan site in the last few weeks, PersonalHomeLoanMortgages.com is one that means business. They put a tool for crunching your numbers front and center on their landing page. It doesn't have anything too personal to fill in either.

What is the loan type?...I clicked on Home Purchase from the drop down menu.

What is the property state?...Just for fun I decided to look at Florida Mortgages, it's orange season right

What is the property type?...I clicked Townhouse, it's good to dream.

What is your credit history?...better be realistic here and say Fair.

That's all there is to fill in on the landing page.

Mortgage Refinancing is more complicated than that of course, but this table must be useful for sending customers to the right part of the site.
I'm not looking for
California Mortgages, so why should they be showing them to me, right?

So I clicked the Continue button and it goes to a slightly more detailed table to fill out. I'm not after a loan at the moment, so I won't be filling it out.

Shakira To Sing in Arabic

I am not sure if this report is accurate, but it says that Shakira will be performing one song in Arabic during her performances in the Arab world. Her concert tour includes stops in Dubai, Tunisia, Cairo and Lebanon.

This is almost completely unrelated, but did you know that Google Language Tools has a beta version of translation between English and Arabic? I hope people from both cultures will use this new tool to foster better understanding.

يمكنكم ان تقولوا لي كيف كنت؟ لقد ضيعت فرصة لي بلدي؟ لقد تغير
اي تمنياتي المخاوف والاحلام خطط لب لد

My apologies if this snippet of lyric is very badly translated. I cannot read Arabic.

arabic

Cosmetic Surgery

On a street that is so exclusive that you are not even supposed to pronounce it Row-Dee-Oh, there is only one place to go see a Plastic Surgeon. Rodeo Drive Plastic Surgery has some seriously A list clientèle, but many of them don't let on. With the exception of breast augmentation, even the press doesn't notice much of the time when a star gets a small improvement.

But the press has noticed the clinic. Medical director Dr. Lloyd Krieger is being recognized for a unique program of procedures designed to reduce the amount of post operative pain and discomfort that patients experience. A lifestyle magazine mentioned how lots of movie stars were discretely going to the clinic before the Oscars to have a special type of liposuction performed on the chin and neck area. The article does not name names.

Get Shakira's Hairstyle

Shakira is rumored to wash her own undies, but I think she leaves her hair to the professionals. I did find this page showing us all how to get hair like hers with a DIY at home technique. You have to have long hair. It is a six step process and it involves rubber bands and three different hair products. Britney's hairstyle is much easier to achieve.