#musicthrowback (early 2000s)

I feel like every time I hear Shakira's Hips Don't Lie (track 3 off Oral Fixation, Vol. 2) on the radio, there's a point in the song where Shakira is singing and a line feels cut off. Like the someone didn't want her to say something so they edited out whatever it was and didn't try to fix where she goes in to the next part of the song. 

It's so hard to explain and pin point where exactly that part is, as I heard it on the radio yesterday and it just got me thinking. It's a hard edit and doesn't flow so great. I mean, the song in its entirety is so streamlined, that the point it feels like there is a bad mix, stands out dramatically. 

As I'm typing this, I listened to the song again, so I am able to say exactly where it is and what it is. It's around the 1:40 mark when she starts singing "oh boy, I can see your body moving / half animal, half man". At the 1:45 mark, she sings "You seem to have a plan" and goes into "My will and self-restraint" at 1:46. That's the point where it goes into the question of what just happened. 

It's all one verse but the shift between "plan" and "my will" is harsh. Once she finishes the verse out, the song goes back in to a quality edit. 

Things I've read about this song is that it's a bunch of samples. Wyclef Jean has one song that was matched up to be re-recorded with this, plus some of the brass work from Jerry Rivera. 

It doesn't matter who she sampled or how long it took to create the song, every time I hear it, those two lines trip me up because I keep thinking someone had an oops moment in the editing bay. I know I'm reading too much in to this and it's just a song, but I can't help but wonder why that stayed in and not fixed. Like I said, the song in its entirety is great and you can't tell that it's not a pure 100% original track, except when you get to that 1:45 mark and Shakira's vocals shift. 

I know it's just me being crazy weird, but I felt like making a comment about it. Something to think about. 

- Shrugs - 

Cheers;

I got word...

... that a certain book is on presale right now. 

My friend Rachael has been working diligently on an animal rights book (well, a "we need to end bullfighting" story based on (political) headlines coming out of certain Spanish countries) for a couple years and she has now officially started the process of getting it self published (on Amazon). 

The book is titled Sangre De Toro and the (Amazon) synopsis is:

When Pepelito dramatically escapes certain death in a bullfight, he enrages some and delights others. Taken pity on by Rita Silvera, a caring homicide detective, he soon begins to heal from the physical and psychological torture of the bullring.

But Pepelito's nightmare is not over. Javier Castella is the best matador in Spain - maybe the world. He would kill for a chance to finish his masterpiece - and he's not the only one.

Because, as Rita soon learns, a serial killer is on the loose. And her love of animals might make her the next target...

Rachael has done so much research with this book, that it is being supported by CAS International. CAS International is group that " wants to end bullfighting and other 'cultural' events that cause animal suffering".

As we've been friends for over 20 years and routinely talk about everything going on, I promised Rachael that when the book was ready, I'd promote it on here for her. 

Currently, the Kindle version is listed as a presale only on Amazon, and it's located here, for $8.90 (US, as she's British and working in England). It'll be released April 30, 2024. All other versions will be released sometime in May (trade secrets that I can't post here).

The last time we had a good conversation about it, she stated that the proceeds are going to go to a charity to have bullfighting banned. I hope all her work (literally & figuratively) pays off because from what she's told me, this sport really shouldn't exist. We've all seen some sort of version of bullfighting and think nothing of it, but there's so many things behind the scenes relating to a moment of quick movements, that we don't know how bad it really is for the animal. No one talks about the politicians that support this, the harm (cuts, bruises, death) that comes to the bull... I feel it's quite possibly the equivalent what we commonly hear about the way chickens / cows / pigs are treated on farms in order to get us every day food. We're not eating these bulls after a fight, but they're more disrespected by owners and trainers and everyone else than we actually want to know about. 

So please support my friend Rachael and check her book out. It's a good read (I have previewed it in its early stages) and worth the time and effort. Rachael has done an amazing job in writing Sangre De Toro and I am so so proud of her. 

Cheers;

Finished!

 Friday night I finished Young Dracula. Because I'm using a Roku (3) streaming device, I ended up watching the last two seasons on The Roku Channel app. FilmRise's Classic TV only has up to season 4, so I wanted to make sure some other app had the fifth season before I got into season 3. 

Sure enough, the Roku channel had all five seasons. 

I do have to say, as cheesy as the series got to be, it ended nicely. 

I mean, sure, in some alternate reality, maybe a spinoff could happen or a season six could have been made, but they really tied all the seasons together with five seasons. There are a couple loose ends that really could have been a 16 episode series ender, but honestly, that would have been too much. 13 episodes per season is plenty. 

Yeah, there were parts overall where it was so stupid you rolled your eyes (Count Dracula over tried as a parent to Vlad in some scenes) and the Ingrid vs Vlad sibling rivalry was spot on for some families. Although the whole "girls suck" / "girls can't amount for anything" was over bearing. I understand the concept and then Ingrid trying to be a boss bitch, but there was just something off putting about that characterization. 

Plus the "mum's run off with a werewolf" ran it's course too harshly when they announced a puppy in the picture during one of the seasons. Said puppy was in and out of 2 seasons and forgotten about by the end of the series. Which was odd. 

Look at me, creating spoilers. Oops.

The series is made for kids with adult humor in mind, for sure. It's also 13 thirty minute episodes per season, so it's mindless if you want some background comedy. 

I'd probably watch the series again if I had time to kill and wanted to find some Easter Eggs or pick things out even further. But until that happens, I wanted to make an update saying I finished watching it all.

Cheers;