Step Up/ Michelle Murray/ Christmas party

Jan. 6 Step Up: I was channel surfing and I saw that the dancing movie Step Up was on Cosmo channel. I had to watch it. I saw it the first time when it came out back in 2006. I really liked it because of the dancing and love story. I also really like the lead actor Channing Tatum. This is the movie where he really broke out on his own. He was in a few movies prior to it, but he wasn't the lead.

I mainly had this movie on in the background as I look for a job. I already saw it once, so the 2nd time I'll watch it for the dance sequences. It's a light and fun dance movie to watch. I recommend it if you like light movies, dancing, and romance.

I was watching Pop Up Video, and it turns out the lead actress Jenna Dewan was a back up dancer in Janet Jackson's music video "All For You." I went on the internet and she was on the "All For You" tour. In the show, they mentioned that Jenna Dewan and Channing Tatum got married.

Jan. 7 Date: So I have been emailing this guy Jay for a couple of weeks. We met up today and hung out for about an hr and a half. We went to the Edmonton Winter Festival in Churchill Square. We checked out the art displays there. There were a lot of artists who were at the summer festivals at Churchill Square last year. It was interesting and fun to look at the paintings.

Michelle Murray: Jay talked to the artist Michelle Murray. During it, I then got a flashback and asked her: "Were you in the Edmonton Journal?" MM says: "Yeah, Mom of 8. You have a good memory." I remember reading an article about it a few months ago. Check out her art:

http://michellemurrayart.com/about

So back to the date. It was okay. I had fun, we talked a lot about movies as we were shopping.

Jan. 8 Christmas party: I invited my friends to my Christmas party at work, but no one could make it. So I went by myself. I didn't go last year because after work, I was tired. I had a good dinner with my family instead. This year, I decided to go to see what it was like. I should go out more often and try new things.

I did kind of have a friend with me, my friend who started working here. She brought another friend. They ate dinner, and stayed for 30min. They then gave me their raffle/ party tickets when they left. My friend's friend didn't rip off the bit of the ticket to enter in the draw. I had 2 chances to win one of these great prizes.

It's mostly gift cards for restaurants and stores. The really good ones are the ones to stay at really nice hotels. Some are electronics like a dvd player. I was there for about 2hrs. I did socialize a little bit, by talking to this young woman from another department. We know each other a bit. I mainly talked to my friend, and her friend.

I did do a little bit of my crossword puzzle after I finished eating. The food was good. I also read the newspaper I brought with me. You're probably like: "You need to socialize more." Yeah, well at least I stayed longer than 30min. I mainly stayed because I wanted to win something in the raffle. I didn't win, but I had fun.

Jan. 9 The visitors: On New Year's Day, at night, we got some visitors. I was in my room and my parents were talking to them. I thought friends came over. Then they came downstairs and was speaking English to my brother. My sister closed her bedroom door. I went out of my room to see what the hub bub was about.

It's two cops. A white woman and an East Indian man. They were investigating a domestic disturbance. My mom called my sister out, and she had shut the door so she wouldn't have to listen. Now she has to deal with it. I didn't hear anything. However, my sister actually heard something outside. That was interesting.

Music: I found this artist from watching Pop Up Video. Maxwell is a black R&B artist and here's his video "Fistful of Tears." He's got the smooth voice and music like Robin Thicke. Check it out:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KabCkV_oW48&ob=av3e

Also from the show, I saw the video by American Idol winner Fantasia. Here's her video "Free Yourself." This is a good and emotional ballad. The chorus says: "If you don't want me, then don't talk to me/ Go ahead and free yourself."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BWs3fs9nnzc&ob=av2e

Also on the show, they played this R&B group called Soul for Real. They are 4 African-American brothers. The video is called "Every Little Thing I Do." They're from the early 90s and I don't remember them. It's got a good beat and the dancing's good.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ihhJCPYHuk&ob=av2e

I was watching a little MuchMusic and they showed this R&B group called Mindless Behavior. They look like they're 13-15 yrs old. Here's their song "Mrs. Right" ft. Diggy Simmons. I like the song, it's got a good beat to dance to. They kind of remind me of the old R&B group B2K because they're both with 4 African-American guys who sing and dance. B2K were in their late teens though.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_cuoL8lwaPs

I was watching the tail end of Jimmy Fallon, and they showed this country singer Hunter Hayes. I listened to some of his music and it's okay. I'm not really into country. If you are, then check it out:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m5MPxz-8e6A

Comparisons: Here's something I haven't done in awhile. List my comparisons.

Lead character meets person of the opposite sex, and is their double: In The Listener season 2 finale, Toby meets a woman who is telepath like he is. That reminded me of Kyle XY where Kyle meets Jessi. She has the same powers he has. On Tru Calling, Tru can relive days. She meets Jack and he can do the same thing.

An intro to TV series: The third ep into Ringer, they showed the intro to what the TV series is about. Ringer is about two sisters with the same face. They're twins and Siobhan fakes her death, and Bridget takes over and pretends to be Siobhan. Bridget is hiding away from the FBI and the mob.

As soon as I saw the intro, I was reminded of Alias. The intro was Sydney is a double agent working for SD-6 who she thought was the CIA. It turns out SD-6 wasn't, so she works for the CIA to take down SD-6. Her dad is also a double- agent.

Closing the morgue drawer door where they keep the body, and cut to black: I was watching The Mentalist and at the end, Patrick Jane needs someone to confirm if the dead body is Red John. The door closes and cut to black. Cut to closing credits.

It was done on Tru Calling where Jack works at the morgue. He closes the drawer door, cut to black, cut to credits. It was done well on both shows.

Teen pregnancy: Here's something I haven't wrote in a long time. I was watching the Teen Mom season finale special. The 4 teen moms mainly have positive feedback. The TV show makes parents talk about sex and have an open discussion with their kids. Amber did get negative feedback because of her domestic violence actions on the show.

Catelynn Facebooks people about adoption because she gave her baby up for adoption. Did you know that 1 in 10 of every children born in the US are from teen moms? 400,000 babies are born to teen moms a year. In the first part, they interviewed Farrah and how she's sad. There was a PSA about Halfofus.com about depression.

http://www.halfofus.com/default_splash.aspx

Dr. Drew interviewed Amber about how her little sister died of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS). Amber's mom came, and started talking about her experience with SIDS. Amber got so upset, she got up and left the stage. Dr. Drew followed her to make sure she's okay.

Think murder: I was watching BBC news on Nov. 3, 2011. I turned on the TV, and it was on. BBC news was profiling this:

Cut to a black woman who is a Parking Officer.
She is arguing with a Man in coveralls over a parking meter.
Man #2 in coveralls comes with a chainsaw and cuts the parking meter in half.
PO starts backing away in fear.

It looks real, but it's a hoax. It was supposedly to help advertise the movie In Time. It turns out the black woman really is in law enforcement. The BBC news piece was about advertising and how to make things look real, when it isn't.