giraffeandy

Same, I also thought of Love Today when I heard that part.

I like the song a lot, after two listenings it's already stuck in my head... I'm curious to hear the studio version, the production always makes a big difference. But so far I really like the sound of it.

Yes, if they "win" the war too (whatever it means in this situation, of course in the end there are only losers in a war...)

Me too but I'm afraid this is not the kind of support they are wishing for from other European countries...

Czech entry. I do like it a lot more than the last one.

If the radiation hits Russia, they will say it's Ukraine attacking them, they don't care about their own people...

No-one told them they are going to fight in the first place so that's very likely. They weren't prepared for a war.

Yeah, my grandmother also mentioned that on the phone today. It's scary how the history still repeats itself.

I can't stop thinking about the war. I really wish I could do more and help somehow, there are many donations here, people collecting money or medical and military equipment, offering their houses for refugees etc. but it seems there's nothing I can do from my position. At least I signed up as a volunteer in a community center to help sort the supplies but they haven't called me yet so probably they have enough volunteers so far. Also in most cases they rather look for volunteers who speak Ukrainian or Russian. But I don't think I can fully enjoy anything under these circumstances. And I know there's still some war going on somewhere in the world but this one really hits too close to home. My grandmother is terrified, remembering the Russian invasion here in 1968 and how she felt back then. Everyone is talking about the situation and it feels like a nightmare. People on Twitter seriously asking if anyone has a bulletproof vest because they know some Ukranians returning home to fight, that's so surreal...

I'm a pig too... But a wood pig, Mika is a water pig. Apparently most compatible with goats, tigers and rabbits. Least compatible with snakes.

I thought you want to move Mika to your home...

It's Russia, that's the only motive they need... Recently someone quoted on Twitter our former president Václav Havel who said years ago: “I think that after many centuries there is a kind of Russian problem: that Russia doesn’t know exactly where it begins and where it ends.” I thought it's very fitting. (Just to clarify, with Russia I mean the official representation, not the majority of people who live there...)

Same here... Every year there are a few good songs but the majority of the show feels very superficial to me. And many songs are just awful! I also don't like the fact that some countries buy songs from abroad and/or let people from different countries compete for them, I don't mind at all that the songs are mostly in English but it doesn't make sense if the song wasn't even made in the country and/or the singer/band comes from somewhere else. So I have very mixed feelings about the show.

Tbh, not that much. At least he's in the same line as the Canadian singer Carly Rae Jepsen, I like her a lot. They actually have something in common - she's also best known for her first hit song Call Me Maybe even though she has released a lot of new (and even much better) music since then but radio stations keep playing the one old song all over again... And so many people think she's not active anymore. Sounds familiar, doesn't it?

Regarding Spanish, I really don't have many opportunities to practice speaking. I'm taking the classes and we have a native teacher so at least twice a week I can speak a bit but I feel it's not enough for me. There are classes of conversation too but the courses are rather expensive so I prefer to take the general classes that cover more disciplines. Maybe there are some cheaper options but I wanted to be sure that the classes are of good quality so I'm attending the local Instituto Cervantes, it's part of the Spanish embassy here so I thought the "official" language institute is always a good choice. And I really like the courses, they are just a bit pricey. At least next semester I'll have some discounts for former students.

It's only for vocabulary but I really like the app called Drops. It exists for many different languages, I use it for Spanish. The free version allows you to practice only 5 minutes every 10 hours but actually is more than enough to learn new vocabulary 5 minutes each day (or even twice a day if you manage to use it in the morning and then in the evening after 10 hours again). You can learn new words from different fields and you both see a picture with the word written underneath and hear the pronunciation. That's very important for me because I figured out that it's easier for me to learn new words when I hear them. If I just see them written, it's not enough for me, I need to hear the words pronounced.

So I made the test but the result is a joke... I'm good at this type of grammar tests but my level really isn't so high. My speaking level is probably B1. I almost forgot, also ser/estar/haber... It's easy but while speaking, I'm just unable to think about so many aspects.

I'm learning Spanish for about 5 years (but with many breaks), I made the biggest progress in the past 2 years. This year my resolution is to get the DELE B2 certificate. I'm not quite there, I'm still taking classes but I think I could be able to take the exam in July. The biggest problem for me is the speaking part - I'm able to learn the grammar, I'm quite good at writing, I'm also trying to read a lot in Spanish and to watch a lot of Netflix in Spanish (with Spanish subtitles but still, I'm able to understand it without help most of the times) but speaking is hard for me, I need more practice... I make really bad and stupid mistakes because there's too much to think about, all at once (what do you want to say, vocabulary, verb tense, indicative or subjunctive... ). It's much easier for me to write because you aren't under such a pressure. So wish me luck! On the other hand, I don't really "need" the certificate for anything so I don't have to do it if I don't want to but somehow, it would be nice to get it. I'll try the test Prisca posted above.

The gig was on 22 November. I have pics.

I'm pretty sure I've seen these lights in 2019 after Mika's gig in Zurich.

Mika staying 4 months at one place? That would probably be a new record but I don't believe it. Even though North America is still a huge territory for him to travel but he often has some projects going on in Italy or France...

Cool, I'd love to decorate a huge palm tree. I forgot that all MFCers are detectives (and sometimes even stalkers ). Unfortunately, I don't use this CD shelf a lot (only for "handmade" CDs for digital releases like Live at Brooklyn Steel or Versailles) because it's near the window and the sun used to make the covers lighter so I have my CD collection on a shelf that is better protected from the sun. Fun fact - I have there a Pusheen too. (But Mika has his own special shelf...).

Christmas aloe vera

I just realized that I've been to this venue before (but not during the festival, just to visit the arena).