Up Too Late: An Endless Search for Mr.Right & Other Important Things in Life

I listened to most of the songs on the Contestants' List and compared to previous years, felt really disappointed. There aren't that many songs that you could wow about in this year's contest. Most are very trashy-sounding songs that have little or no hook rhythm to them...

Personally, my top three are as follows [and NO, I'm not biased at all! haha]:

1.Bosnia and Herzegovina - Hari Mata Hari -Lejla : Despite civil war strife and the conflict that caused most of the former Yugoslavian countries to separate, Hari Mata Hari's songs and talent is respected and appreciated throughout the region. The haunting voice with which he wins over the public will hopefully get Mata Hari a good position on this year's Eurosong.

2. Albania - Luis Ejlli - Zjarr e Ftohtë : The mix of the traditional Albanian polyphonic music and the modern rhythms may get Ejlli farther than expected, though with an amateuristic video that Albania produced this year, he may be stuck in limbo. Let's hope the Eurovision jury does not give videos relevance. The song follows a new trend in European music to mix traditional rhythms with modern, beat-driven tones. Last year, Greece won with a song that mixed Greek traditional with dance. The year before, Serbia and Montenegro almost won the 2004 competition with an ethno-pop-sounding song [that mind you, sounded amazing!].

3. Croatia - Severina - Moja Štikla : Severina is one hot woman loved by many Balkanics [i just invented this term], Croatia is one European country visited by many tourists and "Moja Štikla" is one stupid song that will help the country get at least into the semi-finals. When I first heard this song, I thought it would not get anywhere. The song title, translated, refers to "My High Heels" [WTH??]. After seeing the video [and this time, I am hoping that the jury DOES pay attention to the video...the opposite of what I just said for Albania], I fell in love with it.

The videos and more info. on the countries can be found on the BBC's Eurovision 2006 site .

I came across the UnderU website while looking for some fun sites..ideally, i would buy a pair of all these briefs, boxers, tees and everything else they have...The site's AMAZING!

As always, I am a lucky guy to be able to meet some of the most interesting personalities around...One of them is the girl who cuts my hair regularly, Jennifer. She was busy the day I had my haircut, so I decided to go with the next one who was available for the cut. The weird lady at the counter said it would take at least ten minutes, so I go Ill be back in a couple of mins. I went to the salon next door to see if someone I know was there. He wasnt. Instead of just going back to the other salon, I ended up asking how much they charged for a mens cut. The girl, who seemed SOOO inexperienced, looks at me and says "ummmm, well, I think they start at $23...No, Im sure they do ...hehe"

So, as I get ready to leave, she says "BUT if you want ME to give you a cut, Im a student and I'd only charge you $5," with her really eager-looking face, ready to get the scissors and clippers any second now. I thought about it for a second and horrified at the thought of having my hair experimented with, I gave her an obvious "ummm, please don't" look that she immediately understood and, within a second, got back to her crossword puzzle...I felt bad, but really, who'd want to have their hair played around with?

So I got back to the hair place and sure enough, a young blonde was waiting seulement pour moi. She gave me a haircut I have not had in months! I was really impressed, though I didn't tell her this...What's more, she didn't even say a word! I loved it! I was not looking forward to having to make empty conversation again, but she didn't even talk! Yes!!!

As I left, I noticed Jennifer, who, as she wiped her eyes and nose with her shoulder sleeve, continued to cut someones hair. I said, "Hey, Jennifer" with my usual generic smile. This must have been more than she could handle because obviously, she could not stand a customer cheating on her with another hairdresser: "I thought I was the only one who could cut your hair the way you like it! Why would you say something like that when you didnt mean it??"

Dumbfounded, I stopped and tried to calm her down, but there really was no way of doing something like that. The poor woman under her scissors kept looking at me first, then at Jennifer...I slowly left the place before she started throwing things around. I didn't know hairdressers could be that territorial.