I told T awhile back that I’d like a really small wedding, just immediate family, and to have it at a beach. My one requirement was that I’d have Josh Groban and Andrea Bocelli performing LIVE as I walked down the aisle. Of course, his comment was, “Good luck with that!”. I’ve always been fans of their singing, in fact, more often than not, their CDs will be the ones playing in my car as I drive to work.

So, I was reading someone’s blog a few days ago, and they mentioned that Josh Groban performed at the Emmy awards, and he sang a medley of TV songs. That really intrigued me, and this morning, I went to YouTube and searched for his performance. It was really cool, he sang theme songs from shows like Friends, The Brady Bunch, Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, and even Baywatch (?!?). The theme songs were from older songs, around the time that I started watching TV. It’d probably not be familiar to a lot of the younger kids, but it was right up my alley. There were a couple of songs that even I wasn’t so familiar with. Overall, it was a very fun performance, especially the Muppets and X-Files bit! Have I caught your attention yet? Well, here’s the link, so you can watch it for yourself!

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One of the things I learned about cows whilst watching the show was that stuff seems to be constantly coming out of their mouth and nose. Or was it highlighted to seem that way? Anyway, apparently the cow is able to lick the stuff coming out from it’s nose! Yeuch!

What were some of the tasks that the host took on? Well, there were these huge containers in the farm containing a lot of erm…excrement or manure, would be the polite word. One of the containers sprung a leak, so Mike was given the task of cleaning the containers with a big hose. And these were really huge containers, many hundred feet high, so, not a quick job! One of the admirable things is that apparently the contents of the containers can somehow be converted to some form of energy, I think it was methane? And eventually, the farm will be running 100% on this energy. Amazing, isn’t it, what good can come out of waste!

Next, he had to clean the cows’ udder. When a cow has a hairy udder, the likelihood of the milk being contaminated by stuff on the hair is higher, so they had this pseudo-blowtorch thingy, which they use to singe the hair off! I have no idea how it doesn’t hurt the cow, but Mike tried it on his hand, so I guess it really doesn’t hurt. One of the harder tasks that he had to perform, was to try and impregnate a cow with a bull’s sperm. In order to do it, he had to stuff his gloved hand into the cow’s rectum! Now, that’s really nasty.

I’m amazed at the different types of jobs he’s tried out, they range from jobs like scraping dead animals off the highway, to sewer inspector, to avian vomitologist (I’m not exactly sure what that entails, but there’s the word vomit there!).

We sure owe a lot to the people that handle these kinds of jobs, I’m sure I wouldn’t be able to handle most of them. Every job has it’s bad points, but I must say, I’ve never been sprayed by faeces before!

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Now, a lot of these questions are hard, not just because it’s been a long time since we’ve used this knowledge, but also because this is a US based show, so we aren’t taught a lot of these things. For example, one of the questions was, how many cups are there in a gallon? Hmm…is a cup a measurement? Aren’t different cups different sizes? :p OK, so I guess they’re referring to cups…like when you bake, you use a cup of flour. Add in the fact that we were taught in Malay, not English, and it becomes even harder! Yesterday’s question was, if you have the number 3/4, what is the reciprocal? Now, what on earth is a reciprocal??

So, what is our competition? We both answer the questions, and whoever gets it right, wins 10 dollars for each correct question. It’s a nice and easy way to earn money! So far, I’ve won 50 dollars, and he has won 10. Now, who’s smarter than a 5th grader?

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As I watched the show, they played some excerpts of people talking about Diana, and how they had met her whilst she was still alive. She seemed so warm and caring, and everyone loved her (of course, they couldn’t really have an interview with someone that DIDN’T like her, could they?). I remember how I used to love watching the movie of Princess Diana and Prince Charles, and how they met, fell in love, and their grand wedding. When Prince Charles had his affair with Camilla, the public really hated Camilla, they saw her as the evil mistress that caused the separation between Charles and Diana. It was a big shock when Diana died, my mum thought I was joking when I told her!

There were lots and lots of performances, I think the program ran for about six hours! I only caught a few performances, though, because it was already midnight when I started watching and I needed my beauty sleep. But I really loved two performances in particular. I watched Rod Stewart perform, but I didn’t think he was so great, his last song was pretty good, though. I’m not a big fan of his rock songs, although the only ones that I’ve heard are his ‘Great Rock Classics’ or something like that. I much prefer his Great American Songbook ones.

THEN….came the musicals by Andrew Lloyd Webber. I’m a HUGE fan of ALW, I think his musicals are sooo good. First up was Memory from Cats. I’m not sure who sang that song, but she was good. Halfway through, this young girl came out to duet with her, apparently she won some contest of some sort. Next, was Andrea Bocelli! *swoon* His voice is so low, and so melodious, it sent shivers down my spine. He sang the Phantom of the Opera song. After him, was Sarah Brightman, the original Christine from Phantom of the Opera, doing a duet with Josh Groban! I also loved, loved, loved that song! Listening to them sing, I felt that the Phantom musical I went for in Singapore was nowhere near the level of those three. T said that it would probably be overkill to have them sing together in a full blown musical!

After that, I only caught one more song, the one with Donny Osmond, and two other dudes singing the song from Joseph and the Technicoloured Dream Coat.  I think that it was the same song that he sang for Andrew Lloyd Webber’s 50th birthday celebration as well! Can’t he sing any other songs?

All in all, pretty interesting. If it’s shown again, I’m going to try and tape the musicals section, after all, that’s what AstroMAX is for!

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1. My wedding plans….NOT!
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I do hope I get a prezzie though. Hehe, how materialistic am I? I’ve been hinting that I want a wireless PS2 controller for awhile now. If you’re reading this, and didn’t get me a present, remember, and get it for the next occasion!

Anyway, back to Josh Groban. He’s SO talented! I liked him ever since I saw him as a small kid in Ally McBeal, although he did look a little bit weird back then. I think he’s grown into his looks since then. I especially love the songs which are not in English. Foreign languages always sound so romantic. OK, not all foreign languages (never Hokkien! :p ) sound good, but Latin sure does.

Another singer who I always think of who’s in the same genre is Andrea Bocelli, who’s awesome! I started listening to Andrea Bocelli when I watched the episode of American Idol (yes, I watch a lot of American Idol) where he guest starred, and gave tips to the AI hopefuls. Someone once said of Andrea Bocelli that his voice must be what God’s voice sounds like. Hehe, yes, he has a fantastic voice. If only I had a voice like that!

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It was pretty cool, a..what’s a duet called if there are three people? Triplet? John Legend, Corinne Bailey Rae and John Mayer were all singing together, which was awesome. To me, anyway. Don’t know what you others think, and don’t care. My opinion is the only one that matters!

After that was the presentation for Best Pop Vocal Album, which was won by John Mayer. This is the first time I’ve really looked at him properly, and I’m of the opinion that he looks slightly like Johnny Depp. I like Johnny Depp, he always plays such quirky roles, especially in Pirates of the Caribbean. Probably that influences me to like John Mayer. Haha…

Next was a performance by Shakira. I always think that she’s more like a belly dancer than a singer, and her performance today didn’t change my mind. Hehe, wonder how many fans she would have if she put on lots of weight and her body didn’t look the same anymore.

And, after that, I stopped watching, cos it was time for me to play Rogue Galaxy! Yes, my PS2 games take precedence over the Grammys.

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There are 6, or is it 7, couples. The girls are all gorgeous BLONDES and the guys are all geeks. They’re supposed to rub off on each other, one imparting their social skills, whilst the other imparts their knowledge. Anyway, after they had chosen their partners, this was their first task: The girls had to go for a ‘quiz’ which involved 5th grade knowledge, whilst the guys had to participate with their partners in a dance competition. Here’s where it started to get funny…hearing this, one of the guys got so panicky, that his nose started bleeding!!

OK, so it’s during the pop quiz…the first question posed was, “Spell ‘tattoo’”. And the girl goes T-A-T-O-O. Hehe, what was even funnier, was that she spelt that word the night before during her study session, and she said that it was a really easy word! Anyway, the quiz went on, from geography to history to spelling.

Next up was the dance competition. The first couple went on stage, started dancing, and the guy got one move wrong, and he got so nervous, that he just said, ‘Thank you, that’s it!’ and walked off the stage! For the second couple, the man was the nose-bleed guy. They started dancing, and his nose began to bleed once more! Can you believe it??

It was a most entertaining one hour! Although I laugh at the geeks, some part of me honestly says that I am probably half geek myself. :p One of the guys was a computer programmer (hey, so am I!). I don’t enjoy dancing either, and there are lots of times that I would rather stay at home and watch TV compared to going out and meeting people. Yes, I would definitely say I’m more of an introvert than an extrovert.

Of course, I’ve never been Vice President of the Dukes of Hazzard fan club either! For those of you who are interested, Beauty & the Geek replaced American Idol, so it’s on Star World, Wednesdays at 8.00 pm.

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It’s official, Friends is over. I just watched the final episode of Season 10 today. Although Friends actually ended more than two years ago, I never fully realised what it would mean to me, because I never watched the ending. This was because my DVDs of the final season were with a friend in Australia, and I only just got them back.

After watching the last two episodes, I felt a sense of nostalgia, and sadness. When Friends first came out, it was one of the most eagerly anticipated series in a long time. Astro actually screened it, but when I watched it, I was not impressed with the censorship. Almost every other word was censored out, making it almost impossible to understand. However, I bought the VCDs, and from then on, I enjoyed many episodes of uncensored Friends.

I’m sure almost everyone has watched at least ONE episode of Friends. It’s the story of the everyday lives of six 20 something year old friends (Rachel, Monica, Phoebe, Chandler, Ross & Joey), living in New York. At one time or another, I could find myself relating some parts of my life to the Friends series.

I must say that the last season of Friends did not impress me too much, especially the first few episodes when Joey & Rachel had their ‘fling’. I found it almost too difficult to believe. Rachel? With JOEY? However, I was happy that things soon improved mid-way through the season, I especially loved the episode when Phoebe changed her name (Princess Consuela Banana-Hammock??), and it ended with the arrival of Chandler & Monica’s adopted twins, and Ross & Rachel getting back together.

The end of Friends is like…”the end of an era” (quoted by Monica, when Rachel moved out of their apartment). How much do I love Friends? Well, when I went over to Australia to study, I brought over all my VCDs. I watched them almost every night before I went to sleep! When there were DVD sales, I even upgraded my VCDs to DVDs. I am now the proud owner of Season 1 to 10, on ORIGINAL DVDs!

OK, it’s time for me to properly mourn the passing of Friends…by watching it all over again!

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Anyway, that was the start of the DVD craze. Every since then, I find myself constantly combing through Amazon, hoping that some new DVD box set that I’m interested in will come out soon. I’ve already got my eye on The Nanny. I used to LOVE that show when I was small, it was one of my favourites, along with others like Doogie Howser, MacGyver, etc.

I think Niles was probably my favourite character in the whole show. The way he spouted out sarcastic comments to CeeCee, with such a straight face! And who can forget Fran Drescher’s nasal voice going, “Mister Shefffiieeeld!!” I don’t think they ever showed the last few seasons over here, so I never got to watch the episodes where she finally hooked up with Mr Sheffield. Hopefully all the seasons will come out soon on Amazon, then I can have a Nanny-watching fest!

Another set that I want to buy, is Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman. Yes, I know it’s a totally corny show, but that was another series that I used to love watching. It’s probably just something about a girl, always having a superhero come and rescue her whenever she gets into fixes. Just a tiny “Heeelp” and he will always come to her rescue. It takes AGES for Lois & Clark to get together, different issues keep cropping up, forcing them to stay apart, but of course, love finally triumphs.

The final box set which I have mulling over, is CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. I enjoy watching the show on AXN, but I always keep wondering whether I enjoy it enough to watch it multiple times. Wouldn’t I just get bored once I find out who the killer is? These drama shows are so different from comedies, I’ve watched my Friends box sets millions of times, so much so that I can even remember the lines from most of the earlier seasons. Every time I go to the DVD shop, I feel like buying it, then when I get back home, it’s back to the same question, “Should I, or shouldn’t I?”

So, what should I do…

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I finally got round to testing it yesterday. I read the instructions, and popped it into the microwave. Now, the instructions said, “If you are microwaving it, set the timer for 3 seconds only.” How much can a microwave do in 3 seconds?? Anyway, I always follow the rules…so I put it in the microwave, and started counting, ” 1 Mississippi, 2 Mississippi, 3 Mississippi”. After that, I took it out from the microwave, and guess what? It didn’t even feel the slightest bit warm. So, I put it in for another 10 seconds.

When it came out this time, it was warmer, so I took a bite. Now, for those of you who haven’t tried a Pop Tart before, it seriously smells like oat/bran type foods. The layer of chocolate on top and inside doesn’t help that much either. I have resolved to try it with ice cream the next time and see if that helps the taste. Maybe it’s because it’s imported…and it takes longer to get here…so it’s not fresh anymore? I just don’t know…plenty of people are raving over them!

The moral of the story? Don’t be influenced by TV shows…this is how TV producers make money, by advertising products! It’s never as good as it looks on TV…

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