All I want for Christmas is that Mariah's song - one of the six new songs from her upcoming Christmas album dropping in stores on November 2nd - to peak Billboard Hot 100. And stay there for the entire holiday season. She may have been wanting to complete production of this album since 2-3 ages ago and  finally it's near. It would be a festive holiday too to blast your airwaves with her voice soaring the Christmas air. I'm excited! Ha Ha

Her new Christmas album will contain 6 new songs, a number of old covers and a hot new remix of "All I Want For Christmas (Is You)."

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Mariah's new Christmas album will be called "Merry Christmas II You"

I would always be enchanted by Anne Curtis' charm since I personally met her one Sunday afternoon after ASAP. She was sweet, fragrant, warm, gracious and engaging. It made me an instant fan.

Upon hearing about this movie made me want to see it immediately. And Anne never failed to amaze me with her stunning performance and svelte screen presence. She's delectable to watch, luxuriant and lusciously wild. Her acting chops never disappoint a somehow sloppy direction. Her aggressive take to equal Claudine's acting brilliance sizzles in every sequence she appeared in.

Okay, enough of Anne. She's as good as she can always be. This movie somehow tackles the inimitable take on love. Finding love. Love triangles. Love lost. Love found. And shared between sisters. Good plot. Not too bad. Screenplay has some slips but it manages to catch up on succeeding sequences. Richard Gutierrez still can't act. That much. He tried but yeah, he just can't act. But lo! he knows how to shed a tear on cue. And then there's Claudine. She is hot! One hot hot momma! 

On the side note. GMA Films must come up with conversational dialogues that sounds real (hello Joel Torre-Claudine hospital scenes) and not sounding quoted or something. Indescribable! It just doesn't fit sometimes. Take Star Cinema's dramatic lines and punches. That is just right on the dot. Well, anyway, GMA Films is just starting and it's not too bad.

Not to forget: the music! I wish Regine's old trio version of herself was featured here. Her cover was much more stirring and appealing than Rachelle Ann Go's take, or that it was upped for a contemporary arrangement. Well, it's just my opinion.

I've been blogging lately about love. Love found. Love lost. Unrequited love. Love hurts. Love pains. Love gains. Love triumphs. Forget the dramas. Forget the ensembles. Forget the sorrows. Whatever! (hands open wide, smiling, spoken like Mariah's Billboard 1999 Artist of the Decade speech.. LoL)

Yeah! It's been quite a looong while that I have drifted away from it unconsciously because of this and that. Somehow, along the way, I realized it did not abandon me. After all. It just went past the the two lowest forms of love: eros and philos. And it was gratifying to see that change. A huge leap. 

And I just love to talk about it now. With or without a definitive object of affection, it will not matter anymore. Love is just noble. It gratifies the soul and fills a hungry spirit and keeps you  moving. It makes you feel alive. Specially when you are not expecting anything in return.

After all, it is the "greatest form" there is.

 Thank God for this grace. For this gift.

Butterfly was co-written and co-produced by Mariah and Walter Afanasieff, released in September 16, 1997. It was one of the first few songs I was able to appreciate when I first got this album.

I remembered running to my bedroom right after I got my copy and played each track, and then skipped tracks that I did not feel repeating on second listen. Then Butterfly came into play. The melancholy in Mariah's vocal runs cannot be missed. The pain in her soaring vocals and constant whispers even took me inside her soul. I forgot the lyrics. I forgot what Mariah implied in her songwriting. It did not matter. The song was just ecstatically beautifully produced and sung. It was enough. I just let her voice consume me, my existence.

Around five years later, I came across the Classic Bossa Nova mix and Sambatterfly/Meme remixes and saved it for posterity. It served its purpose last year. I went back to this catalogue and appreciated this mix existed. Then I turned to the original album track to find this lingering bass line thugs that kicks you out in punches. Then the lyrics synced what I was going through at that time. It was a perfect song.  Those sentimental piano runs over carefully programmed percussion and scattered finger snaps/drum beats. Ah, simply irresistible. HaHa

It was a love song. "When you love someone so deeply / They become your life." A sad love song about unrequited love.  "I have learned that beauty / Has to flourish in the light / Wild horses run unbridled / Or their spirit dies." It was about pain you have to go through betting your best foot forward to love and seeking to be loved in return. "I can't pretend these tears / Aren't overflowing steadily / I can't prevent this hurt from / Almost overtaking me." It was also a song about hope. Hope that no matter what happens you have to "spread your wings and fly." And it's about giving yourself a push, "You have given me the courage / To be all that I can / And I truly feel your heart will / Lead you back to me when you're / Ready to land." 

One can really appreciate life and its beauty when you give yourself a chance to love and be hurt. Well, to be hurt would really be subjective and should not always be the case. But hey, it's what, imho, would give you this ultimate pleasure of appreciating love and its core context when you were able to overcome the pain and be able to "fly again abandonedly into the sun." Afterall, love without hurting is too bland and boring. Excite your self once in a while. Life is all about the adventure that you are willing to take. Pikon talo. To be hurt is human and is also a beautiful experience.

"The greatest thing you'll ever learn Is just to love and be loved in return." - Nature Boy

Feeling grumpy and in pain as the morning mist slips through the window, I could not help but play some mellow songs. Celine's cover of Nat King Cole's "Nature Boy" then stuck the playlist. It's a good song, I realized, so I played it once again, and over again. Then the famous line of chasing love and being loved in return kept ringing. Celine's wails just emphatically resonated its brilliance and I started to marvel: did I find it yet or I still kept on chasing love? Or maybe I am playing around with it that I no longer know what is real or not, or maybe not?

I become bothered. Confused. Fascinated. Perplexed.

I'm also in pain due to a helpless workout routine yesterday. And it's not great to have your arms and tummy in a constant chill, like they're helpless for a while. LoL. That funny feeling that all over your body would somehow drift you in random soliloquy. For a while. Well, seemed like it. I'm drifting drifting.