Earthquakes Can't Shake Us, Cyclones Can't Break Us

Watch It!: Charice Feat Iyaz - Pyramid

YouTube music stars a bit one-a-penny these days, but Charice is a bit different to some of the others may you have heard of, such as Esmee Denters and that Bloody Bieber. For example, Charice, or Charmaine Charice Relucio Pempengco as her parents decided to name her, is the first Asian artist EVER to arrive in the Billboard 200 Album Chart (I know they have a lot of charts in the US, but I believe this is a pretty big deal), is set to appear as a recurring character in the second season of Glee, was personally invited by Andrea Bocelli to be a guest at his birthday concert and was described by HRH Oprah Winfrey as the "Most talented girl in the world". She also appears one of the Alvin & The Chipmunks movies, but I hope you won't hold this against her.

Charice might not be yet, but I have a feeling this girl is gonna be a pretty big deal some time soon.

Should you wish to, you can test your knowledge of Charice at http://www.charicemusic.com/triviagame/

Personal Space Invasions

Top 5: Best/Worst "Mosh Pit" Related Incidents

I use the term lightly. I'm not really that hardcore.

5. Fall Out Boy @ Reading Festival
I start this by saying that I am not 100% sure it was actually during a Fall Out Boy set when this occurred, but it was definitely at Reading, so at least I am 50% right. Anyway, the point is during someones set, the band in question instructed those stood in the front section of the crowd to split in half, pick up the litter surrounding them and chuck it at the opposing team. Luckily for myself, Music Guru and possibly Welsh Boy (this is the most vague story ever, I do apologise), we were far enough back to enjoy chucking rubbish without the fear of incoming attack. Yes, it is immature and not very safety conscious, but when else do you get to have a garbage fight without the risk of getting punched in the face?

4. Dizzee Rascal @ Reading Festival
This was the first time I had seen Mr Rascal, so I wasn't sure what to expect, but as soon as the music started, the crowd went mental, but in a good way. People were dancing around like crazy loons. Unfortunately, I was feeling quite crappy at this point (as I may have mentioned before, Reading Festival hates me), so I wasn't able to sustain my dancing feet for very long, so the three of us mentioned above (Welsh Boy was DEFINITELY there, I am sure of it this time) had to move further back, away from the hot, sweaty people.

3. Panic! At The Disco @ London Astoria
The one and only time I had the pleasure of going to the Astoria was a pretty epic occassion. The pleasure was slightly dampened by the very squashed conditions. Young kids in massive backpacks were determined to get to the front of the stage, and were willing to shove themselves in any gap possible. This was made worse by the fact we had to stand through a set by Men, Women & Children with their stupid monkey song. I had forgotten all about this though, by the time P!atD rocked on the stage, but it was just too hot, so me and the Music Guru moved to the very back and decided to have a boogie instead. Much more fun!

2. Hoobastank @ Southampton Guildhall
This was my first "mosh" experience and I learnt some valuable lessons. Namely, don't stand at the back of a "mosh pit" unless there is someone stood very close behind you. Why is this? Because you will end up at the bottom of a tweenager pile, that is why. Also, if you are losing balance, its a nice touch not to drag your friend down with you (Sorry, Mutley*!) Luckily, I was rescued by some big, burly men and escaped injury free, except for a few bruises.

1. Lostprophets @ Brixton Academy
This may seem like an exaggeration, but this was one of the most scary experiences of my life. Unlike the Dizzee dancers, the 'Prophets fans went totally mental, probably in a good way for them, but not so much for me. I was getting pushed about all over the place, got seperated from Music Guru (I know she is getting mentioned a lot, but I go to 99% of my gigs with her - I have few friends), who also very nearly lost her shoe, and we had to fight our way to the back of the room, with lots of very unhelpful people unwilling to move out the way. This is how most of the stories end, as you may have noticed. Like I said, I am not very hardcore.

*Also, sorry for the nickname.

... And I Am Sure Not Too Old!

Top Five: McFly Videos

5. Please, Please

*¤* [ MyRiAm ] *¤* | MySpace Video

4. Lies

3. That Girl

2. The Heart Never Lies

The Heart Never Lies

McFLY | MySpace Music Videos

1. Party Girl

Because You Are NEVER Too Old For McFly...

Top Five: McFly Albums

In celebration of an impending new album and my reignited obsession.

5. Greatest Hits: B-Side & Rarities

A very random mix of songs that you have probably never heard before unless you insist on buying all the singles, and a whole bunch of covers from the likes of The Killers, The Beatles x 2 and Rihanna (well, who HASN'T covered 'Umbrella'). I only chose it because they have only released four LPs, and choosing the regular Greatest Hits album feels like cheating a little, and no-one likes a cheat. Also, it was only available in Woolworth stores, so it feels a bit special that I own a copy. I am easily impressed.

Best Songs: The Guy Who Turned Her Down, Pinball Wizard.

4. Radio:Active

My least favourite of their "proper" albums mostly because it was originally released free with the Daily Fail, which meant I had to publicly embarrass myself in the local shop by picking up a copy. I have since moved out of the area. I also bought the deluxe version when it came out in the shops, because apparently one copy was not enough. Like I said, I have since moved out the area.

Best Songs: The Heart Never Lies, The Last Song, Lies.

3. Motion In The Ocean

I am a bit hit or miss with this one. A bit Marmite, you may say. The love does outweigh the hate, but only at a ratio of 9:4. My Wikipedia search informs me that this album was recorded in the "infamous Grouse Lodge recording studio", which I have never heard of before, and upon further search, I am unable to find out why it is infamous, but I do know it has a spa, horse riding and satellite TV.

Best Songs: Bubblewrap, Transylvania, Please, Please.

2. Room On The Third Floor

The very first, so named after a track on the album, which in turn is written about the hotel room in which the album was written. I am not convinced they spent a whole album in the same room, but I refuse to believe that Tom, Dougie, Harry and Danny would lie to me. I remember listening to this album the first time and hearing all the tracks about unrequited love and thinking it was impossible that they could be that unlucky in love.

Best Songs: Five Colours In Her Hair, Obviously, Not Alone, That Girl.

1. Wonderland

I will never, ever, ever forget the first time that I listened to this album. I was sat on a coach with the Music Guru sharing a walkman and a set of headphones. Then track number 8 came on. And we were not prepared for what was about to happen. A two-part Disney sounding epic, the first part purely instrumental, the second part telling the tale about a young girl committing suicide. In short, it is the last thing you would ever expect to hear on a McFly album, but when Lil' Tom plays it live, it is more than a bit awesome.

Best Songs: All About You, She Falls Asleep, I Wanna Hold You, Too Close For Comfort.

What I've Watched: May

The Lake House

Casino Royale

Girls Just Want To Have Fun

Love On The Side

Dear John

Kiss Kiss Bang Bang

My Super Ex-Girlfriend

Wicker Park

Labor Pains

Bolt

Bright Star

Fantastic Mr Fox

Bottle Rocket

A Lot Like Love

Hoodwinked

Lord Of War

Scorched

The Little Mermaid

The Thin Red Line (well the first half...)

Shrek 3

Away We Go

Walk All Over Me

The Singing Detective

High School Musical 3

The Last Kiss

Moving McAllister

Sex & The City 2

Top Five: Welsh Bands

Ah, Wales. Home to one of the worlds best accents, as well as some of the best rock music that the UK is currently creating, in my humble opinion. These are my five favourites, in order, which was a harder task than you might imagine.

5. Kids In Glass Houses
Despite what I may have written in a recent blog belonging to the Music Guru, I do actually like the music of KIGH, I just find them to be a little bit samey and predictable, but you can not deny them of their ability to create high quality music.
Check these out:
Me, Me, Me (Give Me What I Want)
Saturday
Easy Tiger

4. The Automatic
Specifically the 'Not Accepted Anywhere' era. I had forgotten how much I used to be in love with this album, until one of the songs came up on a music shuffle. Back in the days when people actually listened to CDs, this album was almost constantly in the stereo, when I wasn't having a boyband moment, or at least until the next exciting CD turned up. Not so much of a fan of their later works.
Check these out:
That's What She Said
Recover
Seriously... I Hate You Guys

3. Lostprophets
Specifically, NOT 'The Betrayed' era. This band used to be awesome. Now they suck. I do not want to dwell on this any further, so lets move on.
Check these out:
Last Train Home
A Town Called Hypocrisy
Burn, Burn

2. Funeral For A Friend
I'm quite a late jumper on the FFAF train, not appreciating their true awesomeness until I saw them live for the first time. I think it is a bit of a crime that there are so many people on this earth who have no idea who these guys are, partly because of their musical genuis, but also because they seem like genuinely nice chaps.
Check these out:
Escape Artists Never Die
Into Oblivion
Streetcar

1. The Blackout
I remember the first time I saw this band very clearly - it is a day that will stick out in my mind for possibly the rest of my life. I'm not gonna lie to you all, the first time I saw these dudes live, I was about as far from impressed as you could get. However, luckily for me, the band featured as the support act for many gigs I attended following this, which allowed me to give the band a second (and third and fourth... )chance and they are now my favourite bunch of Welshies.
Check these out:
It's High Tide Baby
Children Of The Night
I'm A Riot, You're A F*cking Riot

Thoughts: MTV Movie Awards Nominees

Another high brow award ceremony for us all to vote for, with such categories as Best Kiss and Best WTF Moment, which sound like the kind of fake awards that magazines use to cash in on during awards season. Click here to cast your vote for the awards that only tweenagers (and bored english non-tweenagers) really care about! There are video links to aid with the voting process, but this is only for those who live in the US. Another set-back, is to actually vote, you have to sign up to MTV, or alternatively connect with Facebook, so, if you so chose, all your friends can have evidence of the cool things you do in your spare time. Same as before, those are in bold are who I chose.

Best Kiss

Kristen Stewart & Dakota Fanning - The Runaways

Kristen Stewart & Robert Pattinson - New Moon

Sandra Bullock & Ryan Reynolds - The Proposal

Taylor Swift & Taylor Lautner - Valentine's Day

Zoe Saldana & Sam Worthington - Avatar

Best Fight

Beyonce Knowles vs Ali Larter - Obsessed

Hugh Jackman & Liev Schreiber vs Ryan Reynolds - X:Men Origins Wolverine

Logan Lerman vs Jake Abel - Percy Jackson and The Lightning Thief

Robert Downey Jr vs Mark Strong - Sherlock Holmes

Sam Worthington vs Stephen Lang - Avatar

Best Villain

Christoph Waltz - Inglourious Basterds

Helena Bonham Carter - Alice in Wonderland

Ken Jeong - The Hangover

Stephen Land - Avatar

Tom Felton - Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

Best WTF Moment

Betty White - The Proposal

Megan Fox - Jennifers Body

Isabel Lucas - Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen

Ken Jeong - The Hangover

Bill Murray - Zombieland

Biggest Badass Star

Angelina Jolie

Channing Tatum

Chris Pine

Rain

Sam Worthington

Best Scared-As-Sh*t Performance

Alison Lohman - Drag Me To Hell

Amanda Seyfriend - Jennifer's Body

Jesse Eisenberg - Zombieland

Katie Featherston - Paranormal Activity

Sharlto Copley - District 9

Best Breakout Star

Anna Kendrick - Up In The Air

Chris Pine - Star Trek

Gabourey Sidibe - Precious

Logan Lerman - Percy Jackson and The Lightning Thief

Quinton Aaron - The Blind Side

Zach Galifianakis - The Hangover

Best Female Performance

Amanda Seyfried - Dear John

Emma Watson - Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

Kristen Stewart - New Moon

Sandra Bullock - The Blind Side

Zoe Saldana - Avatar

Best Male Performance

Channing Tatum - Dear John

Daniel Radcliffe - Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

Robert Pattinson - New Moon

Taylor Lautner - New Moon

Zac Efron - 17 Again

Best Comedic Performance

Ben Stiller - Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian

Bradley Cooper - The Hangover

Ryan Reynolds - The Proposal

Sandra Bullock - The Proposal

Zach Galifianakis - The Hangover

Global Superstar

Daniel Radcliffe

Johnny Depp

Kristen Stewart

Robert Pattinson

Taylor Lautner

Best Movie

Alice in Wonderland

Avatar

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

The Hangover

New Moon

The ceremony itself takes place on June 6th (to be screened on MTV UK the same day at 9pm and most likely about 6 months afterwards on some other channel), with votes closing the day before, and is hosted by Aziz Ansari who has been in Funny People, Scrubs and Flight of the Conchords. No, I don't know who he is either. Last years host was Andy Samberg. Read into that what you will.

What I've Watched: April

The Blind Side

Accepted

The House Bunny

The Bounty Hunter

Remember Me

Princess Protection Programme

Jennifer's Body

How To Make An American Quilt

Deja Vu

Date Night

Office Space