Here we go, everyone!
The title for Carrie Underwood and Brad Paisley’s duet has been revealed:
Remind Me
It tells the story of a married couple who try to rekindle their romance after years of marriage. Sounds awesome, right? Well I can’t wait to listen to it! I’m sure it’ll be beyond epic!
This is the ASCAP result for the song, click here.
Do you think this will be Brad’s upcoming single? These are the reasons why it might: here.
Starting March 11th, voting will open for this year’s ACM Entertainer Of The Year category. It seems as if our attempt to get our disdain across has gone unnoticed – as expected.
Regardless of Carrie’s clear snub (check here and here), we, as one of country’s biggest fanbases, need to support one of the nominees and cast our votes in his or her favor. While we all won’t have the same enthusiasm in voting for that nominee as we have for Carrie (new emails, many computers, emailing people who might be interested), we should at least cast one ballot for one of the nominees to get him or her on top and let him win.
Who that nominee should be is Brad Paisley, for a multitude of reasons.
First, Brad is probably Carrie’s closest friend on the nominee list. She was his opening act for one of his tours and he was so impressed by her that he asked her to sing an awesome duet with him: Oh Love. I’m sure as well that Carrie wants Brad to win over the other five nominees, even though she won’t publicly admit it. Just look at how happy she was for him when he won this year’s Entertainer Of The Year at the CMAs, even though she should have been nominated and win.
Second, Brad is country’s leading male vocalist. He has the longest standing number one streak among all country artists and his songs always resonate with the public. Always. His latest single “This Is Country Music” is racing up to the top of the charts in country music.
Third, Brad has confirmed that he has went to the studio with Carrie to record a song that he felt was unfinished prior to her touch. This is how much Brad Paisley thinks of Carrie. Also, this duet might be his next single: check here.
Fourth, while the other nominees are also deserving, none of them has worked as hard as Brad Paisley to get this award. We, Carrie’s fans, have known firsthand how horrible it is when Carrie works really hard for something and gets snubbed. Brad has been shut out from winning the Entertainer Of The Year category too many times. This is his best chance to win. Why not help him out?
Fifth, Brad’s four year old son has a crush on Carrie. Enough said, right?
Also, in case Brad releases the duet as his upcoming single, a win would boost the hype for this single even higher – if that is possible – benefiting both Brad and Carrie for their upcoming albums.
So for all these reasons, we need to cast our votes on March 11th for Brad Paisley, hopefully next year will be Carrie’s year again.
The link to vote is here.
I was sitting in a class yesterday when an openly gay guy sat next to me. I’m not very good friends with him (I barely know him) but he seems like a cool guy. I know of at least one incidence after an exam where he was more caring about how my friend and I had performed than many people we know.
So the desk he sat at had the following scribbles: [His name] is gay.
The guy took it with humor. He doesn’t care and the people that care about him don’t care either. He took his pen and scribbled down: And proud. He then signed.
I, however, felt bad for him. I have no idea why but I got the feeling that he put on this facade of the non-caring person who ridicules these kinds of insults, but on the inside he was hurt.
A similar thing happened with another person I know, who was forced to come out because of bullying. Everyone started to make fun of him (and imagine your whole age group making fun of you). But he still held his head high and went through it. While I have some reservations on many things this person did, I have to admit that he was being, in a way, bullied.
Bullying in Lebanon – and other countries for that matter – has always been against those perceived as weaker than us, be it racially, sexually, religion-wise, etc….
So just let me say this. Bullying does not make you a better person – on the contrary, it makes you ridiculous. Whether you enjoy the little surge in power that you get when you make someone lesser than you feel bad, just know that this lesser person is the better person and better people are the people who ultimately get the good jobs, the nice girlfriends (or boyfriends) and lead the better life.
So if you’re a bully, take a minute to ponder how horrible you’d feel if the same things you’re doing to those you are bullying are being done to you.
And as final food for thought: aren’t we all bullies? haven’t we all made fun – at certain points – of people that we see as “lesser” than us?
Apple announced its upcoming product today, the second generation iPad, named: iPad 2.
Steve Jobs, whose presence at the event was doubted, came on stage to give the keynote address, starting, as usual, with a few stats.
iBooks:
– Over 100 million books have been downloaded so far.
– Publisher “Random House” (DaVinci Code…) is now available on the iBooks Store, adding up over 17,000 books.
Apple ID:
– Over 200 million subscribers, possibly the biggest credit card subscribers online.
App Store:
– $2 Billion is the total revenue App Developers have made by selling their apps via Apple’s AppStore.
iPhone:
– Apple has crossed the 100 million iPhone threshold.
Pretty interesting, right?
Jobs then proceeded with a brief presentation about how 2010 was the year of the iPad. Calling it their third post-PC blockbuster, it’s both “magical and revolutionary.”
With over 90% market share, the release of the iPad has been the most successful consumer product launch yet. Over 15 million iPads were sold between April and December 2010.
Moreover, he announced the availability of over 65,000 apps for the iPad currently. Other platforms have a measly 100.
A brief video was then played about how ground-breaking the iPad was: used with doctors, in brain surgeries, in helping autistic children, in universities…
Then it was time to announce the main event of the keynote:
iPad 2:
– All new design.
– Boasts an A5 processor, becoming the first tablet to have a dual core processor, using the same low power as the A4 processor found in the original iPad and the iPhone 4.
– Has a built-in gyroscope, like the iPhone 4.
– It’s thinner than the iPhone 4, at 8.6 mm and 33% thinner than the original iPad. It’s also, at 1.3 pounds, lighter than the original iPad.
– It has two cameras: One on the front and one on the rear.
– Comes in two colors: black and white.
– Battery life is over 10 hours, or a month on standby.
– Same prices as the original iPad.
– Supports HDMI video output via a separately purchased cable for $39.
– Available starting March 11th in the U.S. and March 25th in 26 other countries.
Next was another highlight of the evening, the Smart Cover:
– Instead of hiding the iPad’s design, this is a front cover.
– Has magnets, allowing it to auto-align.
– iPad sleeps when the cover is closed and wakes up when it’s opened.
– Can be folded into different shapes, depending on your need.
And it wouldn’t be a complete Apple event without a part addressing iOS.
iOS 4.3:
– Available March 11th, along with iPad 2.
– Involves improvement to Safari’s performance.
– Enables iTunes home sharing, allowing you to get your iTunes content over Wi-Fi.
– Involves improvement to Airplay.
– And for the iPad, it enables the preference if you want the side button to be a mute button or an orientation lock button.
– Enables personal hotspot, for iPhone 4 only.
– Facetime is also added to iPad 2, along with PhotoBooth functionality, allowing the user to have split-screens, tamper with colors, etc…
Then two apps for the iPad were demoed: iMovie and Garageband, both available on March 11th as well. They looked pretty cool and on a Dual Core device, I think they’d be pretty functional, as evident by the many video and song demos that were played at the keynote, made only by those apps.
So are you buying an iPad 2?
It is that time of the year again – the time where we attempt to celebrate our ancestor’s traditions in the period leading up to lent.
One of the most loved traditions will take place tomorrow: Drunk Thursday, aka the only day of the year where getting wasted in front of your parents is met with cheers.
The tradition – or at least what I’ve come to understand of it – goes as follows. On the last Thursday before lent, the whole family gets together for one last shindig before lent starts. It used to be that people gave up everything that made them happy for the lent period, alcohol included. So this “drunk Thursday” served as their last serious farewell to the substance, giving it up until Easter rolled over.
Disregarding what alcohol does to your liver and other vital organs, I think it’s an awesome tradition. It just has this Lebanese familial feel to it that I believe has been decreasing over the years. It’s always nice to sit with your parents over a glass of wine and chat. Now take the wine and extrapolate to a certain unknown power and throw in a few extra family members, some of which you do not want to mingle with and you’re in for one exciting evening – be it you are an atheist or not. This is not a religious occasion, per se.
I’ve personally never celebrated the day properly with my family. Other people my age have had their own share of “Drunk Thursdays” but getting drunk has always eluded me. I have no idea why. God knows I’ve tried. I’ve also taken up drinking quite late compared to other Lebanese my age. Apparently the “acquired taste” of alcohol required extra-acquiring by yours truly. So it looks like this year will be the one time my family gets together to “celebrate” this day properly. And I have to say, I’m excited about it!
Keeping up with traditions – even though our understanding of them might have become different – is always important because it roots us further in our identity. Even if the tradition is as simple as binge drinking with your dad.
So is your family getting together tomorrow to get drunk?
A Separate State of Mind | A Blog by Elie Fares 