Just So You Know

Just so you know, this feeling's taking control of me...

With the advent of my new iPod, my music library has expanded quite considerably. I am no longer content with just listening to songs that I "accidentally" encounter. Instead, I search for the newest songs out there and download them! I am definitely trying to catch up with the times.

One of the more recent songs I heard (and ultimately loved) was Jesse McCartney's Just So You Know. I've always pegged Jesse as Aaron Carter's competitor, but with this song, he proved me wrong. He is so much more mature than Aaron could ever attempt to be. You know what? The song actually touched me. The beat and the melody may be pop, but the beat and the melody betray the meaning of the song's lyrics. Listen to it, and you'll see what I mean.

You can check out the lyrics below.



I shouldn't love you but I want you
I just can't turn away
I shouldn't see you but I can't move
I can't look away

I shouldn't love you but I want you
I just can't turn away
I shouldn't see you but I can't move
I can't look away

And I don't know how to be fine when I'm not
'Cause I don't know how to make a feeling stop

[Chorus:]
Just so you know
This feeling's taking control of me
And I can't help it
I won't sit around, I can't let him win now
Thought you should know
I've tried my best to let go of you
But I don't want to
I just gotta say it all
Before I go
Just so you know

It's getting hard to be around you
There's so much I can't say
Do you want me to hide the feelings
And look the other way

And I don't know how to be fine when I'm not
'Cause I don't know how to make a feeling stop

[Chorus]

This emptiness is killing me
And I'm wondering why I've waited so long
Looking back I realize
It was always there just never spoken
I'm waiting here...been waiting here

[Chorus]

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Thoughts on American Idol: Who's Your Daddy?

What's your name? Who's your daddy?

There are only a few shows that I get to watch religiously these days, given my studies and my work, both of which take so much of my entertainment time. "Few," in fact, would already be a vast exaggeration, as I fervently watch only 2: American Idol 6 and The Amazing Race All-Stars. These two programs have me in their grip. I cannot miss an episode, I cannot wait days to watch the replay, and most especially, I CANNOT BE SPOILERED. So if you guys are planning to send me a text message that contains who got booted out or who eventually won the race, please don't. If you do, I will personally reach into your gut and pull out your colon.


*fans hands towards face* HUH. Now that that's out of the way, here are my thoughts on this year's remaining contestants on American Idol. (Order matters, by the way. Personal faves are on top; hellraisers, bottom.)

1. Blake. My man Blake is my bet to win it all. While he may not be the best vocally, he is the person to beat in terms of charisma and style. He is such an appealing singer. He delivers something new week after week after week. After seasons of having winners that looked like they came from the same cookie jar (Fantasia excluded, but God, I really didn't like her), I'm now ready to root for someone different, someone preppy, someone contemporary. Blake, do me proud!

2. Melinda. Vocals: Unique. Controlled. Flawless. Technically, she is perfect in every way. The good thing about it is that she's not holding back; she really lets it loose during crunch time. This is truly an American Idol in the making. Unfortunately, I'm not sure if I want a big-voiced black girl to win this one. I guess I'm just waiting for that one jawdropping performance from her (think Katharine McPhee's Somewhere Over the Rainbow). In any case, my bet among all the females.

3. Jordin. Amazing. After all that talk about not being able to like this girl, I'm placing her in third place. I guess, among all the others, she's the next best thing after Blake and Melinda. She's young and she's not old-fashioned. There's also something very refreshing about her when she sings. But then again, she's a big-voiced black girl. I'm really getting tired of all the belting. I know that you tough girls can sing... but what else? I wish she'd do something similar to her Hey Baby performance, but one without the awkward copycatting.

4. Chris R. It's funny how I'm basing my ranking on how different the singer is as compared to the previous American Idol winners. Uniqueness is not everything (vocals also matter, Sanjaya), but it is a big something. Take, for instance, Chris R. While I've grown increasingly irritated by the way his singing sounds when he's picking the wrong type of song, I know that, given the proper song choices, he's going to make it big. He can easily be packaged as a pop star, for one, and with the Justin Timberlake resemblance, it's definitely hard to miss.

5. Haley. Give me naughty, baby! =) With this girl, it's definitely all about the packaging. If she keeps up with the Britney-esque moves and the better-than-Britney-esque vocals, I might just root for her more than Chris R!

6. Lakisha. Among the three big-voiced black girls remaining in the competition, she's the one that least appeals to me. There's nothing quite special about her, except that she has excellent range and almost-perfect vocals. After that fact... eh. Nothing else. I mean, why can't we have a big-voiced white girl in the show for once, someone like Christina Aguilera? Or a small-voiced black girl, someone like Beyonce?

7. Phil. He lacks charisma. He has very good vocals, better than Blake even, but in this show, good vocals are just not good enough. You have to be sellable and unique. Unfortunately, Phil is neither of these two.

8. Sanjaya. I'm not yet at the point where I'm throwing furniture at my television just because he's still there. Why? Because I saw Clay's season. In that season, there is a girl named Carmen Rasmussen who is even worse off in singing than Sanjaya. She's like a goat, for crying out loud, and she made it all the way to Top 6. So basically, she's my benchmark for singers who shouldn't be in the Top 12 in the first place. Once Sanjaya breaches the Top 6 mark, the computer chair will be the first to go.

That's it for now. Thoughts on The Amazing Race, next!

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How Well Do You Know Me?

Let's play a game...

Since the post before this is one about self-rediscovery, I want you guys to play a little Kerwin self-rediscovery game for me. This game tests how well you know me. All you need to do is to choose from the five choices listed under each question. There are 10 questions all in all, so please don't go through the answers if you haven't responded to all 10 yet.

Now, I've tried my best not to include questions that only people from a certain era in my life would know. However, this type of question may have easily slipped in. So if you get a low score, please don't blame yourself, blame me for asking the wrong questions. Hee.

So, everyone ready? Grab a pencil and a sheet of paper and let's begin! =)

1. Imagine Kerwin studying for his actuarial exam in Starbucks, hunched over his notes with a look of extreme concentration on his face. Which among the following will be the most successful in tearing his attention away from his review?

a an offer of ham and cheese croissant + venti-sized mocha frappe, all for free
b his phone ringing, Papa calling
c a lively discussion on why Heroes V is the best turn-based game EVAH
d spoiler news that his favorites in the Amazing Race have been eliminated
e what? nothing can take Kerwin away from a mathematics review

2. Kerwin's getting ready to order in Jollibee. Given that he hasn't started his diet yet, what would most likely be the food that he's going to say to the Jollibee counter person?

a YumBurger Mushroom & Cheese, large fries, large Coke
b 2-piece Burger Steak, dalandan juice, extra rice
c large Arroz Cubana Value Meal, large Coke
d Regular ChickenJoy, regular Coke, Swirly Bitz
e Spicy ChickenJoy, large Coke, Pizzamelt Pie

3. Which of the following discussion groups is Kerwin most likely to be actively participating in?

a Stephen King
b life on other planets
c the debate on evolution vs. creation
d Harry Potter
e ABS-CBN shows

4. Aside from Mathematics, what other subject in college interested Kerwin greatly?

a Biology
b Literature/English
c History
d Filipino
e Theology and Philosophy

5. Kerwin is going out with his friends to watch a movie. One friend suggests that they eat at a restaurant first, then go to the movie. Another friend suggests seeing the movie first, then eating after. Three questions: what would Kerwin do, what restaurant will he want to eat in, and what movie will he want to see?

a movie, then restaurant; movie: Titanic; restaurant: Tokyo Tokyo
b restaurant, then movie; movie: Saw III; restaurant: Chef 'd Angelo
c movie, then restaurant; movie: Fast and the Furious; restaurant: the mall's food court
d restaurant, then movie; movie: Babel; restaurant: Kamayan
e movie, then restaurant; movie: White Chicks; restaurant: Jollibee

6. Kerwin gets his bonus. What would be the first thing that he's going to do?

a shop for clothes and shoes
b remit some money to his parents
c buy some accessories for the computer
d pay the debts
e eat at a favorite restaurant with friends

7. What event in Kerwin's academic life disappointed him the most?

a not being able to place in the team division of the Philippine Math Olympiad
b not being able to graduate Salutatorian in high school
c not being able to pass the interview for a scholarship in Singapore
d not being able to write a thesis during his fourth year in college
e not being able to graduate Cum Laude in college

8. Kerwin can sometimes be unpredictable in what he wants to do, and what he is able to do. Which of the following activities will Kerwin want to probably engage in?

a bungee jumping
b skydiving
c white water rafting
d rock climbing
e ramp skateboarding

9. Kerwin is a pretty irritable person. Which of the following people will get him worked up easily?

a the obnoxious guy who couldn't stop talking bragging about himself
b the bitchy girl who would constantly ignore him
c the bully who would torment him with little acts of torture
d the freak who wouldn't stop hinting at and insinuating "facts" about Kerwin
e the friend who would use every passive-aggressive tactic to make him feel bad about himself

10. This one's pretty easy. Which of the following events NEVER happened to Kerwin?

a His father sent a love letter Kerwin wrote in high school to the Youngblood column of Inquirer.
b His brother analyzed him without his knowledge for his paper in Psychology.
c His furious mother chased him around the neighborhood with a broom in her hands.
d His father made him swear never to lie again with his right palm on the Bible, just like a witness taking oath on the stand.
e His mother accidentally poured hot oil on his thigh when he was still in grade school.

Okay, you're done! Click on the link below to see your scores for each question.



1. a = 5, b = 8, c = 10, d = 4, e = 0
2. a = 6 b = 4 c = 0, d = 8 e = 10
3. a = 9, b = 8, c = 6, d = 1, e = 10
4. a = -5, b = 9, c = 3, d = 0, e = 10
5. a = 7, b = 10, c = 0, d = 4, e = 6
6. a = 7, b = 8, c = 6, d = 10, e = 4
7. a = 1, b = 7, c = 10, d = 0, e = 5
8. a = 10, b = 7, c = 2, d = 1, e = 0
9. a = 2, b = 3, c = 6, d = 10, e = 9
10. a = 0, b = 0, c = 0, d = 0, e = 10

Add them all up, and see how you do! =) A score of 70 and above should indicate that you, dear friend, really do know me! (Or you're just really good at guessing.) Like I said, a low score shouldn't be indicative of something negative. In any case, thanks for participating, and scores in the comments, please!

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Extra! Extra! Watch All About It!

...the Amazing Race X rocks!

Just to kick things off. My favorite reality TV show of all time, The Amazing Race, is clearly going back to its original, hardcore roots. My favorite season of all time, Season 5, is still coming out on top (probably because of my tremendous love for Colin and Christie), but tasks-wise, rules-wise, and mechanics-wise, Season 10 is just so much more superior! No more excessive bunching and bunching that renders almost the whole leg worthless (the bane of Season 6), no more boring tasks (the bane of Seasons 6-9), no more mugging and begging during NEL's (the bane of Seasons 7-9), and as yet, no more uneventful Yields (the bane of Seasons 5-9). What are in place? A diverse cast (though the elimination of the Moslems and the Indians in the first leg watered this down a bit), really trying and well-thought-out tasks (ascenders, woohoo!), a shake in mechanics (middle-of-the-leg eliminations, east-to-west travel), a real penalty for coming in last on an NEL, and no one team dominating the entire race! (Well, Colin and Christie did come in first on almost every leg, but it was because Colin had fantastic airport skills in particular and a great grasp of race mechanics in general.) Can you scream "Hallelujah?" The season just gets better and better!

In other news, Pinoy Dream Academy. My roommate knows the disgust I felt watching the first few episodes of this show. I told him, "What is this, Pinoy Big Brother all over again?" After several weeks of watching the Expulsion and Probation Nights, though, I have come to love PDA. Which is a strange thing, given that I've sworn allegiance to Philippine Idol even before the show aired. Well, I guess those are the operative words: ...even before the show aired. When it finally did, I found that I had neither love or affection for the uninteresting finalists, the washed-out set, and the crappy sound system. Which, you know, should have been pre-requisites for a successful Idol franchise.

Anyway, back to PDA. As I've said, I have come to love the show. And while the start was a little shaky and leaning towards Big Brother, the show finally realized its mistake and started showing what viewers have been expecting for it to air all along: the classes, the performances, the songs, the rehearsals, the reviews, the teachers, the lessons, the evaluation. Of course, with Laurenti Dyogi in the commander's helm, there's bound to be a sprinkle of Yeng-RJ and Iya-JR love stories, as well as the appearance of family members to induce drama, but I simply ignore these by not watching the episodes where these romantic interludes are shown. In the greater scheme of things, these have even become bearable.

Why, you might ask. One, I believe the show is truly improving. It learns from what fans have to say, and it picks idea from them. The shift from drama-based to talent-based (it did shift, in my opinion) episodes is a clear example of this. Now we get to see more of the scholars' progress in singing and performing, rather than what kind of childhood experiences they have had. Two, the performances of some of the scholars are just awesome. Those that immediately spring to mind belong to Yvan, JR, Yeng, Panky, Emman, Ronnie, and Irish. With these handful of great acts, I can basically ignore those that suck (Kristoff, I'm looking at you.). But this brings me to my third point, which is that the show's elimination process rocks! Thus far, all those that have been eliminated do not deserve to remain in the show any longer. Sooner or later, with the 5-probation = expulsion rule, Kristoff, Michelle and Rosita are going to get the boot. I also have to say that the three-level elimination works better than depending solely on votes or solely on judges. Gone are the days when those who are popular outlast those who are good. Good job, PDA!

More power to these two shows!

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