2011 Grammy nominees are...

B.o.B, Bruno Mars, Alicia Keys, Jay-Z, Eminem, Lady Antebellum... These folks knew they were shoe-ins as nominees for the 2011 Grammy Awards. However, the competition has some new commers to the mix with Arcade Fire, Cee-lo Green and Esperanza Spalding. Let the battle Grammy Award supremacy begin! Here is a small sampling of this year's nominees.

Record Of The Year

B.o.B. Feat. Bruno Mars - Nothin' On You
Album: The Adventures of Bobby Ray (Explicit Lyrics), (Clean Lyrics)
Twitter: @bobatl

Eminem Feat. Rihanna - Love The Way You Lie
Album: Recovery (Explicit Lyrics), (Clean Lyrics)
Twitter: @eminem

Cee Lo Green - F*** You
Album: The Lady Killer (Explicit Lyrics), (Clean Lyrics)
Twitter: @theladykilla

Jay-Z & Alicia Keys - Empire State of Mind
Album: The Blueprint 3(Explicit Lyrics), (Clean Lyrics)
Twitter: @S_C_

Lady Antebellum - Need You Now
Album: Need You Now (Album)
Twitter: @LadyAntebellum

Album Of The Year

The Suburbs (Buy album here)
Arcade Fire
Twitter: @arcadefire

Recovery (Buy album with Explicit Lyrics or Clean Lyrics)
Eminem
Twitter: @eminem

Need You Now (Buy album here)
Lady Antebellum
Twitter: @LadyAntebellum

The Fame Monster (Buy album with Explicit Lyrics or Clean Lyrics)
Lady Gaga
Twitter: @Ladygaga

Teenage Dream (Buy album with Explicit Lyrics or Clean Lyrics)
Katy Perry
Twitter: @Katyperry

Best New Artist

Justin Beiber (Buy Justin Beiber music here)
Twitter: @Justinbeiber

Drake (Buy Drake music here)
Twitter: @Drakkardnoir

Florence & The Machine (Buy Florence & The Machine music here)
Twitter: @flo_tweet

Mumford & Sons (Buy Mumford & Sons music here)
Twitter: @teammumfordsons

Esperanza Spalding (Buy Esperanza Spalding music here)
Twitter: @espespalding


For a list of all the 2011 Grammy nominees, click on Grammy.com

Market America helps Santa stay jolly this year.

The family is coming into town. Some from a few states away. Sounds great so far? Well according to some weather reports, it's supposed to start snowing. I called around to family members to see what their plan is going to be. The response is "Oh we'll be fine. If push comes to shove, we'll just spend the night."

That would be a negative, Ghost rider.

My place is big enough for a family gathering, but not big enough to handle sleeping arrangements by 5 adults, 6 kids and 2 dogs! This is the part where someone says "To the cloud...", pertaining to the new Microsoft commercials. But in the Travel section of marketamerica.com, you can select hotel deals and free yourself from having a cramped Christmas conundrum.

With rates as low as $35 a night, but the rooms that are around the $50 range look better suited to handle my family. When I showed them the hotel links, it seemed to be a resounding chorus of "That's not bad at all..."

I'm more than happy to house all of the gifts underneath my tree and on Christmas morning, they can start a caravan back to my place for opening presents and breakfast.

I love it when a plan comes together.

*Image from Brothersoft

Last holiday shopping weekend. We make it easy.

It's coming down to the wire and you aren't sure what to get grandma, your neighbor or that hard to shop for person. What do you do? Buy them a card? You can do better than that. Check out the Hot Deals section of Marketamerica.com

Look through and see all the deals. There is something for everyone. Plus, you get ma Cashback on the purchase so this falls under the concept of spending money to make money!

But don't wait too long. Time is running out on shipping and no one wants to scramble on Christmas Eve.

Make the season bright without making your wallet light! Marketamerica.com.

Now if only I had a catchy music jingle...

What was the worst thing you ever got for Christmas?

Only a week to go til Christmas and I know some of us are wondering which one of our friends or family will give us the most horrifying gift. I have a list of gifts that have traumatized me over the years.

The first one that comes to mind is the year I outsold everyone in school during the annual fundraiser. The prize was one of those motorized Power wheel vehicles for kids. All my mom had to do was check the box. She checked the wrong box. So on prize day I was called to the office to come get my reward. There was no Power wheel vehicle or anything resembling it. There was a medium sized jewelry box.

Other terrible gifts have been a pair of dress socks, a carton of eggnog, a re gifted fruit cake that had an expiration date of one week before Christmas, a used Nintendo game with a barely visible title but came with instructions to blow on it twice before playing and a Moravian cookie tin filled with butterscotch candy. Love Moravian cookies. Hate butterscotch candy.

Now that I'm older, clothes for Christmas isn't that bad. I'd like a new pair of jeans. Loose fit, please. Still not fond of eggnog, but the bottle of rum by itself is more than enough. I would prefer a brick before getting another fruitcake. A Gamestop gift card instead of an old hand-me-down video game that you are trying to get rid of would be a pleasure. Only Moravian cookies should go in a Moravian tin! Those things are a delectable yuletide delicacy and should not be used as part of a bait and switch scheme with homemade cookies or butterscotch candy. Last, but not least, when I think about the Power wheel vehicle I missed out on in elementary school, I remind myself that it never came with the sound system that my car has.

What was the worst gift you ever received during the holidays? Be sure to change the names and locations to protect the feelings of those that may read this blog.

***This year and every year there are children undergoing pediatric care in hospitals around the world. In some cases, the care may be in hospital away from home and that's where the Ronald McDonald House steps in providing a place for the families to stay free of charge. During this holiday season, you can help put a smile on the faces of parents and children by giving to The Ronald McDonald House. At the corporate office of Market America in North Carolina, we give to The Ronald McDonald House out of Winston-Salem. Anything you can give to ours or the one in your area would be the perfect gift this holiday season.

*Image from MSN

Search: The worst gifts ever

Thor teaser trailer released

I want to get excited about Thor, but it has some awesome competition with Captain America, The Green Hornet, The Green Lantern and various other comic book films coming out.

Thor wasn't one of my favorite superheroes. Come to think of it, he didn't rank in the top 10. None the less, the trailer looks really good. All the classic cinematic punch. The story seems pretty straight forward. Man gets cast out of the kingdom. Man meets woman. Evil attacks man. Man becomes superhero and defeats evil.

I'll definitely see the film out of Marvel loyalty, but I think I'll stick to a 2D matinee.

Watch the trailer here.

A preview of Michael Jackson's new album

I was holding off for as long as possible when it came to listening to anything from Michael Jackson's new album "Michael." Thanks to Christian (@ckrocks on Twitter), I decided to take a listen. The verdict is "It's Ok."

The first single "Hold My Hand," definitely sounds like Akon produced everything and had MJ come in and sing what he had already written. Including the prison bars closing sound at the beginning of the song, that seems to be Akon's stamp of ownership. It doesn't "feel" like a Michael Jackson song. Very cookie cutter in how it is put together with the drum machine and predictable lyrics. I know it's pop music so it may not have the most profound lyrics.

The second song on the CD, "Hollywood Tonight," sounds a lot like Billy Jean only with the notes rearranged as if someone was trying to hide from copyright laws. It has the same feel with the rolling bass line and even the trumpets almost sound the same. Take a listen to it and start singing "Billy Jean" fits almost perfectly.

All in all, this is definitely a big label tossing fans a bone trying to keep the hype rolling. I'm not sure how many more songs Michael Jackson has recorded, but hopefully more thought will be put into the next one. This album will most likely have the two radio hits and win a Grammy or two on the general principal that it is Michael Jackson.

Want to listen to the whole album? Log on to Facebook and go to Michael Jackson's page by clicking here.

What do you think?

Transformers 3 teaser trailer released

Wow. When stories started circulating about how the moon landing would be incorporated into this, I was curious to know how they would do it. Judging from trailer, they did it perfectly.

I've always loved Transformers so this newest one will gladly have money. Doesn't matter whether it's in 2D or 3D.

Transformers 3: Dark of the Moon Official Teaser

The history behind a holiday favorite

What would Christmas be without eggnog? For me personally, it'd still be Christmas. I'm not really a fan of the drink, but if it is the social beverage of abundance at a holiday gathering, I will partake in small doses.

Personal choices aside, Ethan Trex from Mental Floss read up on the back story behind eggnog and I couldn't help but enjoy the read. I liked it so much that I may have some eggnog tonight. But just a little

Eggnog: Everything you need to know

*Image from CNN

Possibly the best online multiplayer game postponed til April 2011

Imagine millions of people online battling with and against each other. Sound familiar? Warcraft, Everquest, Halflife and various games have what it takes to keep players hooked. Unfortunately, the newest game, Star Wars: The Old Republic has been held back for a release date in April 2011.

Siths, Jedi, bounty hunters, storm troopers... and droids? Which one would you be? You don't have to answer that right now... According to the story on MSNBC, you have til sometime in April.

It sure would've looked good under my Christmas tree.



'Star Wars' vs. 'World of Warcraft' — wait for it!