American Music Awards 2015

This is the event I've been waiting for. Where the music icons of the times come out and dress up. Let's start with those whose outfits I would love to wear regardless of who they are.

Number 1 on my list is Selena Gomez.

 Number 2 is Zendaya.

I like the following outfits for guys.

 One Direction looks so dapper.

 Forever In Your Mind

and Tyga in Blue and White, great combination.

And what's up with these women who seem to be showing their underwear? Call me old-fashioned but the following need to put more clothes on.

Number 1 is Gwen Stefani. Number 2 is Hannah Davis.

What's up with these 2? The Biebs and what's her name? I mean seriously. Hire professionals, will you?

I got these photos from CNN. 

Disclaimer: All opinions in this blog are solely those of the author.

              

Da Vinci's Demons Season 3

It's been a while since the last season. In fact, it's been a year. I was really looking forward to this season because the season finale for season 2 left me wondering. The first episode was breathtaking I couldn't wait to finish. I saw the season finale for season 3 last night. It didn't leave me hanging this time. 

SPOILER ALERT!

This season was about defeating the Ottomans or the Turks. In Season 2's  last episode, the Turks were attacking an Italian citadel, I forgot its name. Da Vinci devised a machine that could throw cannons to their enemies even from a far distance. It turns out that a son of Mithras, a Turk, I forgot his name as well, could read his mind. So the Turks created prototypes of his designs and improved them thus defeating De Medici's cohorts. Lorenzo de Medici, the leader of Florence (a city in Italy), was captured as a result. I initially thought that Da Vinci's mother was an ally of the Turks, but she was in chains and they were using her to defeat the Italians. She was helping her son, by the way, and the show revealed Da Vinci has a sister who was herself gifted. Her mother communicated to her through telekinesis, if there was such a thing during those times, the 14th century. She told Sophia, Da Vinci's sister to help her brother defeat the Turks. And so she did. She could read a page from the book of leaves. If you have also been following this show, you would know about the book of leaves.

This page is enchanted because one reader sees a different thing while another also sees a different thing but they're both connected. That's what happened to Sophia and Da Vinci. Sophia saw a contraption like a bird with no head that was flying but tied to something. Leo saw a series of wheels turning. The siblings proceeded to create the machine. When the wheels are turned while the kite like apparatus was tied to it and the weather was cloudy, it produces a sort of electricity and shoots out lighting or current and blows it up.

They also discovered that they could concentrate the blast and spread it via an armor from the castle of Dracula. Yes. Dracula is in this show. His name is Vlad the Impaler who is the brother of the Ottoman's commander. Nicely done. I commend the show's writers, they really know how to spin a tale. Towards the end, Leo urged the fighters to surrender and take off their armor. Yes the armor from Dracula's castle. They piled it up at the center and voila. When Lucrezia, tossed up the kite towards the clouds and Sophia turned the wheels, spurts of electricity flew. It found the pile of armor and shoot electricity to whoever still wore the armor. Yes. The Turks still wore their armor stolen from Dracula. They stole one and copied the design. Thus, the Turks were defeated. The Italians won.

I forgot to mention Gerolamo Riario, Count Riario in the show. The architect, aroused the crowd to try him. Make him speak his defense even if he admitted to killing Clarice Orsini, Lorenzo's wife, Bishop Rodrigo, a manager of a house of ill repute in Florence and many others. He succumbed to his madness even if Leo already cured him. He killed Pope Sixtus.

I also noticed that they mentioned the F word a lot. I wondered whether that word was already available during that century. And Lucrezia Donati, the daughter of the twin brother of Pope Sixtus (this twin brother was the true pope by the way), wore pants or breeches as what they called it. I didn't know women could wear pants during that time.

Anyway, the show was great. I didn't have to wait long to download the 10 episodes of Season 3. They were already available. I think it was a leak. Well, I'm glad there was a leak. I finished watching because I couldn't help it. It was exciting. I wonder what they will think of next? For Season 4, I mean. I hope it's as exciting as season 3.

Hitman Agent 47

I love this movie. It's a class A movie for me. I literally gasped during certain action sequences. There was a lot of Whoa! coming from me. I guarantee that you will enjoy watching this movie.

I love this part right here. Although I think it was impossible in real life but he pulled it off in the movie. The terms "with guns blazing" come to mind. Literally. Although I didn't like the female lead. She looked too old. Older than  the male lead. The plot calls for a younger woman. They should have looked for a younger woman. The woman in the photo below played Katia, the woman who was looking for her father. It turns out, she was gifted with superpowers. She can foresee what will happen next and she can get out of trouble by herself.

                                         Hannah Ware, an English model and actress.

 

They made up for the lackluster female performer with breathtaking action. High tech gadgets were emphasized. Wow! When the bad guys came tumbling down from the railings of the inside of a building. Wow! When the vehicle where Zachary Quinto (plyed John Smith the villain) was on the passenger side capsized. Wow! I am enumerating my favorite scenes from the movie. It should have been Ryan Reynolds who played Agent 47. Sigh. Although Rupert Friend was an 8 compared to Ryan Reynolds' 10 as an agent. Insert smiley here.

Anyhow, the movie turned out fine. Love the action. I give it 4 stars. More photos here.

                   The photo above shows the scene where he got out of the handcuffs. 

                                                             Happy reading...

Southpaw

I watched this movie last Friday with my husband and son. We loved it. I don't know if it's now showing in theaters here in the Philippines. I have to warn you, though. If you haven't watched it yet, don't read on. Spoiler Alert!

The movie is about a boxer named Billy Hope played by Jake Gyllenhaal. His wife is played by Rachel McAdams of "Mean Girls" and "Aloha" fame. Her name in the movie is Maureen nicknamed "Mo". They have a daughter named Leila. The movie started with Billy Hope in the ring fighting some boxer. He got punched a lot but when he looked at his wife, she raised her arms and seemed to say, "Come on baby". When the last round started, he punched back his opponent. He won that fight.

They attended a charity event and Maureen was shot accidentally by Hector, Miguel Escobar's bodyguard. Another fighter who continually taunted Billy to fight him which pushed Billy to punch him. His wife died then and there. Billy spiraled down into nothingness because of sorrow. He lost his house and his daughter was taken away from him. When he visited his daughter in foster care, she lashed out at him saying it would have been better if he died and not her mom. The judge ordered him to stay sober, "no drugs and alcohol", and he must find a job before he can get his daughter back.

He found work at Wills Gym. The gym was owned by Tate Wills played by Forest Whitaker. He asked T. Wills to train him. He jogged every morning, cleaned Wills Gym and practiced boxing. He became better at boxing. He eventually got his daughter back and he got to fight Miguel Escobar in the end. He won. I shed a few tears. 

I hope you enjoyed my synopsis and I hope I did not dissuade you from watching Southpaw. I rate it 5 stars. Great movie to watch with your family. Here are some photos of the movie.

Jake Gyllenhaal portrayed Billy Hope very well. Rachel McAdams also played her part well. The daughter was played by Oona Laurence. She was so believable. 

There were other notable performances too. 50 Cent played his agent. Rita Ora played Miguel Escobar's wife Maria. 

Meteor Garden

I went gaga over this series. A Taiwanese romantic comedy drama about F4 and a girl named Shancai(pronounced Shansay). It chronicles the experiences of Shancai, a student in Ying De College owned by the parents of the F4 members, Daoming Si, Huaze Lei, Ximen and Meizuo. My favorite part of the story is Daoming Si and Shancai's love story. I feel giddy when it's their scene. The producers really tickle the viewers with their love story. 

Even though it was made in 2001, it still holds fresh in this day and age. The story is timeless. Boy meets girl. Girl doesn't like boy. Boy develops feelings for girl. Girl falls in love with the Boy. Even though it's typical, I still feel giddy. Shancai played by Barbie Hsu is so believable in her portrayal. Daoming Si played by Jerry Yan is so handsome and also played his part well. I especially liked the part where Daoming Si was searching for Shancai and he left a bunch of messages on her phone and when Shancai played his voice messages, Daoming Si suddenly appeared and they embrace. Giddiness to the highest level. Another part I liked was when Shancai blocked the smashing of a chair on Daoming Si's body with hers. Scream! 

I finished Season 1 and Season 2 in a span of 4 days. That was 27 episodes for season 1 and 31 for season 2. Phew but it was worth it. I even started watching the episodes again. I don't like season 2 at all because Daoming Si lost his memory in an accident and he forgot about his past. Even Shancai. Though there was the part where Shancai worked in Daoming Si's company and Daoming Si also worked there. Shancai really tried hard to get close to him again. I thought they would but they didn't. In the last part Daoming Si regained his memory and dumped Ye Sha, the one who got Daoming Si in an acciddent and became his fiancee. I shed tears mind you. The setting for Season 2 was in Barcelona. It revolved around 2 rings which they both eventually wore at the end. Sigh. 

Here are some pictures I got from the net.

It was a really successful series in that ABSCBN, a station in the Philippines even made an encore. They showed it 2 times on TV. I could not get over Meteor Garden. No worries coz I could just review the episodes I love in YouTube.  Here's a series of scenes between the 2 characters I love.

I hope you enjoyed my tirade. Watch out for more...

Privacy

Many people don't want to be in the spotlight. I am one of those people. I read this post in Yahoo Tech by Daniel Howley and I thought this deserved to be shared. I am also hoping that with this share, I could add more followers to my blog.Go to this URL for the step-by-step instructions. Have fun, I know I did.

https://www.yahoo.com/tech/heres-how-to-download-and-delete-what-google-117031199754.html

After reading the story, how did you feel? Me, I felt, yeah,  but I guess what I searched were harmless. No secrets. It's fine if Google knows what I searched. I'd want to know what I searched when I turned 60. So, till then. However, for those people who're paranoid about these things, by all means do so. Delete your search history. It's up to you. I hope you learned something from this post and Daniel Howley's story.

VICTORIA'S SECRET FASHION SHOW 2014

I heard Ed Sheeran sing "Thinking Out Loud" while I was riding on the shuttle home.I looked at the screen and there were models walking by him. I thought "I'm going to download that video." When I got home I searched for "The Victoria's Secret Fashion Show. There were a lot of results but I chose the latest. When it finished downloading, I didn't watch it right away. I watched it the next day, that's yesterday, a Saturday, no school. Voila! It was so amazing. I watched it again last night. You see I didn't know that fashion shows invited artists to perform. 

The Victoria's Secret Fashion Show is an annual fashion show sponsored by and featuring Victoria's Secret, a brand of lingerie and sleepwear. Victoria's Secret uses the show to promote and market its products in high-profile settings. It was indeed high-profile because from what I can see of the audience, they were all dressed to the nines. I can see a member of the boy band One Direction (Liam Payne) seated in the audience with 2 women at both his sides.

The show was opened by Behati Prinsloo, the wife of no less than Adam Levine. She was divine. 

Then Taylor Swift started singing "Blank Space", models, dubbed as "Victoria's Secret Angels" started walking down the runway.

Other performers were Ariana Grande, Hozier and Ed Sheeran. It was filmed in London so it provided a magical backdrop to the show. The screen and the stage added to the magic of the show. As the 'angels' walked the stage, they exuded confidence and beauty. I didn't even know that some of them were mothers already. Still they had awesome bodies! Imagine, these two are already mothers.

Adriana and Alessandra

The highlight of the show is of course the Victoria's Secret Lingerie and sleepwear. Truly awesome and magical. I would have wanted to have one but I think they're expensive. The show was closed by Taylor Swift again, singing her single titled "Style". 

It was an awesome show and I would like to close this post with this photo. 

I am looking forward to this year's fashion show.

10-20-70 RULE

I learned about this rule from our Pastor and I decided that I would try it. The 10 means I will give 10% of  my monthly salary to the church which is actually biblical. This is in fact termed as "tithing". A tithe is giving 10% of all produce (plants/animals/anything you have received) to the Levites. This is found in Leviticus 27:30.

The 20 means putting 20% of your salary to your savings which makes sense. Savings is important in that if something important comes up and you don't have any money, you can use your savings. It also helps if you want to buy something for yourself and it costs expensive, you have to save up for it of course. I know some of you are nodding your heads while reading this. Prov. 10:4-5 says that we should save so that we can become rich. Now isn't that what anybody would want. We hope and pray to become blessed financially. An improved life. So we should not spend our money in frivolous things. We should save, save, save.  I gave my kids mouse banks. A variation of a piggy bank. One for each of them( I have two kids) so that they could save some money. I told them if they save up, they could have some money by the end of the year and they could buy whatever they want with it with my blessing of course. What's nice about their mouse banks is that they couldn't take money out of it unless they destroy it. So come December we'll see how much they have saved.

Now the 70 means 70% of your monthly salary is to be spent on expenses like bills, food and gas. If you still have clothes to wear, you don't have to buy new ones yet. You just have to make do. My mother sometimes gives me clothes and underwear. My brother also sends some clothes from abroad so I don't have to spend a lot on clothes. My work requires me to wear a uniform so no hassle. With God's help all things are possible. Matthew 19:26.

There are a lot of things bothering today's moms. I am sure this principle would help those who don't know what to do with their hard earned money. At the end of the year, I will post the result of the 10-20-70 rule in my life. Thank you for taking the time to read this. Please post your comments about this rule. Are you willing to apply the 10-20-70 rule in your lives?