Continue posting nominations for the worst commercial of 2002, but, in addition, please visit englishjuls for information on the Xanga Christmas party next week. Sounds like fun!!!

Well, this isn't going to be too impressive-looking, since I don't have Premium and I can't change the font, but...

NOW TAKING NOMINATIONS FOR THE 6TH ANNUAL DUMBEST COMMERCIAL OF THE YEAR CONTEST!!!!

This thing started in 8th grade, and every year I would take nominations from whoever, and then we would vote in the last week of December. This year, I'm running it on Xanga. It's your only chance to vent and complain about commercials that you never care to see again. Here are the rules:

1. The commercial had to have aired sometime this year (preferably for the first time, but I'm willing to make exceptions).

2. No movie ads (We know they're all stupid; don't reinforce it).

3. No video ads (unless it's one of those you have to order over the phone or something like that).

4. Submit local commercials at your own risk. If I don't know what you're talking about, I will not list it.

5. Please, do not submit anything obscene or pornographic.

Past winners (or losers, depending on your POV) are:

1997: Big Lots (If you don't remember "Closeout Man," be glad you don't. If you do, my condolences)

1998: Affordable Chiropractic (This was a local commercial, but the contest was still local then. Basically, it featured a bunch of REALLY bad actors doing whatever-such as riding motorcycles in a field or playing basketball-and one complains about his/her bad back, and another recommends this Affordable Chiropractic. Then the camera would pan over to a guy with a guitar singing a really bad jingle off-key:"I'm pain-free, it's as easy as 1,2,3..." Luckily, this place is now out of business so I don't have to put up with it anymore.)

1999: Home Depot (Santa Claus crashes into the chimney. C'mon people...)

2000: D-Con (This is probably the most disturbing one so far. We are shown a bunch of warm, fuzzy shots of Christmas trees, stockings, cookies, etc, while the announcer reads the first few lines of "The Night Before Christmas." After all these warm, fuzzy shots, the announcer says the line "Not a creature was stirring, not even a...mouse." The word "mouse" is said in a really evil tone, and at the same point, we are offered a shot of the D-Con box. How tasteless can you get?)

2001: Dell ("Dude, you're gettin' annoying!" PLEASE, get someone else. I'm about to strangle that kid.)

I'll take nominations until Christmas Day, so hurry!!!

You know, sometimes the most menial tasks turn into monumental feats. Two days ago, I began looking for an MP3 on imesh. I downloaded about 7 or 8 copies of it before I got the correct song. Now that I have it, my opinion of it is that I would like it better if I could forget who was singing it while I was listening.

Second, I want to try my hand at songwriting, and I'm examining music and meter in current ballads. To do that, I needed song lyrics. That's easier said than done. I tried to find lyrics to a Charlotte Church song, and all the sites returned were in other languages. Then I was trying to find lyrics of "For Always." Mostly, I ended up with Winamp generated playlists (People, typing up the order your MP3s come up in your playlist and then posting your list on the Internet does NOT benefit humanity in any way, shape, or form). I also got a bunch of sites in French (which sort of makes sense, since Lara Fabian is Belgian/Italian/Canadian), a bunch of sites that had part of the lyrics wrong (How do you get "An uncertain tomorrow's to cross our path" from "A thousand tomorrows may cross the sky"?), and one oddball site entitled "Class of 1999 Alumni Page-Los Angeles County High School for the Arts" or something like that (actually, that site had more relevance to what I was searching for than I thought it did).

I'm not big on posting song lyrics, since I think the quality of a song relies on music, lyrics, and voice intertwining in just the right way, and when one of those elements is played out of context, some of the power is lost. However, these lyrics are amazing on their own, and the singer is not very big in the United States, so I figure she deserves all the press she can get (she also wrote the song if I'm not mistaken). I also think this song has a lot of relevancy to my story right now, so enjoy:

Lara Fabian
Adagio

I don’t know where to find you

I don’t know how to reach you

I hear your voice in the wind

I feel you under my skin

Within my heart and my soul

I'll wait for you

Adagio 

All of these nights without you

All of my dreams surround you

I see and I touch your face

I fall into your embrace

When the time is right, I know

You'll be in my arms

Adagio 
I close my eyes and I find a way

No need for me to pray

I’ve walked so far

I've fought so hard

Nothing more to explain

I know all that remains

Is a piano that plays 
If you know where to find me

If you know how to reach me

Before this light fades away

Before I run out of faith

Be the only man to say

That you'll hear my heart

That you'll give your life

Forever you'll stay
Oh
Don't let this light fade away

No, no, no, no, no, no

Don't let me run out of faith

Be the only man to say

That you believe, make me believe

You won't let go

Adagio