The Ting Tings have honestly become one of the best bands in the past few years. Their album, We Started Nothing, is 100% skip-proof – not one dismal track. Every single video has been simple yet visually groundbreaking – enough that MTV took notice (their video for ”Shut Up and Let Me Go” was up for Video of the Year in 2009).
This English duo is the best thing that’s happened since Jack and Meg. And now, they’re up for a Best New Artist Grammy nomination, against MGMT and Silversun Pickups. Not sure who will take home the award this Sunday, but the Ting Tings are well deserving of it.
Check out the new and brilliant video for “We Walk”. They’re just damn good.
Hello, hello, hello. I’ve really got to keep on top of this blogging malarky. It’s just where I have really busy – I’ve got quite a few projects on the go at the moment.
Firstly, it’s the D&AD Brief. Still haven’t got much feedback from the tutors, but their reactions all the way through have been quite intrigued and really want to see what we do with it, because it is quite a complex idea. Friday, I presented AN-Civic in front of the tutors – including design tutor and animation tutor. My animation tutor gave some very good pointers, for example, maybe have the city destroyed by people inside? Which had lead to our new synopsis:
AN-Civic – Treatment
Synopsis:
AN-Civic is an organisation that has built it’s own city which is protected from any natural disasters, wars and nuclear attacks. They believe in the quatrains of Nostradamus, who predicts World War III and inevitably, the end of the world. Only those that pass ‘The Test’ will be allowed into the city, to live with other good, decent humans and live a life free from all of the negatives that are bestowed onto our current cities, such as crime, high cost of living and traffic. This is a metropolis that will continue to live until the end of days.
AN-Civic, is promoted through its’ own website, posters, leaflets, television commercials and the two heads of the organisation – Ms. Heslop and Ms. Wen, making speeches and conferences persuading everyone to live in the city.
The new city – also called AN-Civic (civic meaning city, and AN pronounced as ‘Aeon’ – meaning ‘eternity’) – has it’s own government, law system, health system, military, and all other systems, and is out of any other city’s and country’s jurisdiction. Once civilians move into the city, there is no more contact from them, and they’re not allowed to leave the city either – but everyone from outside the city doesn’t know this – as far as they know, their friends and family just do not want to be in contact with them anymore.
However, this increasing lack of contact and little information about what actually goes on in AN-Civic has lead to a group being made, which believes that AN-Civic is hiding a lot of information. A blog / forum, called ‘Who is AN-Civic?’, under the url of: www.whoisanc.wordpress.com allows people to tell everyone their stories of who has gone missing, any conspiracy theories, and some of which take it upon themselves to research and search for any incriminating documents. They find subliminal messages in the commercials and AN-Civic website too, which they point out.
One of the main leads to AN-Civic not being what it plays itself to be, is its’ link to the Cult of Nostradamus. The CON is widely known for its controversial ideas of narrow-mindedly believing Nostradamus’ predictions, living their life according to them and their ‘any means necessary’ attitude to this.
The city is allowed to continue – whether it be from the fact that the AN-Civic Organisation has access to trillions of pounds, or corrupt officials being part of the CON and, ultimately is involved with the ‘Ultimate’ city – but no one is sure as to why it is.
However, two people have taken it upon themselves to infiltrate the city and find out what is actually going on. Having lost contact with their younger brother, they decide to film their discoveries – discoveries of firstly, the ‘Those who enter must not leave’ policy (including those who did not pass ‘The Test’), secondly recordings of Ms. Heslop and Ms. Wen in talks with several high government officials about the deterioration of the city, and finally, what they see when they finally enter the city – fires, destruction, guns being fired and the civilians running amok.
They send this video to the police – but it gets disregarded – so then post it onto the Who is AN-Civic? Blog. This causes public outrage and the police have to take action, and investigate themselves and find that the information is correct.
Sky News is the first on the scene to report the arrest of Ms. Heslop and Ms. Wen. Ms. Heslop keeps on shouting about how she tried to create a ‘perfect city’ and how human’s are ‘just sick’ and are ‘doomed to destroy themselves’. She shouts about how even the best of people, succumb to human nature – greed, wanting of knowledge etc. – and that that is what destroyed the city. Ms. Heslop is then dragged into a police car. Sky News reporter talks about what lead to the investigation – including the documentary on the blog.
Concept:
We are creating this whole story in the real world. We are promoting AN-Civic as a real organisation and city, as well as the ‘Who is AN-Civic?’ group. We will be creating the websites and content for each – including commercials, posts, the documentary, paparazzi style photographs etc. We will also be talking to the public and getting them involved by doing the speeches etc, handing out leaflets and putting up posters.
The final piece to be given to D&AD will be the Sky News report – which, if they follow the links given – i.e. to the documentary and on the blog etc. – they will actually find it there, as well as the AN-Civic website, which is making the story be as real as it can be. The Sky News report will also be uploaded onto places like YouTube, Facebook, Myspace etc. to get more people involved and make them believe that this is happening / has happened and get them involved.
The overall message to this project is to show people that it is Humans that are destroying cities and inevitably themselves.. One can group together the best of people, get rid of the bad and give them the best conditions to live, yet it is human nature to destroy itself, be it for greed, the need for learning and knowledge, or just that ‘off day’ that can lead to an argument, a fight or severe depression.
AN-Civic tried to group the best people together and give them the best conditions, but it was human nature that destroyed the city which had good intentions behind it. The story is created to immerse the viewer into the world, and hopefully make them realise to a new depth about humans as a whole.
So yeah, my tutors seem to be quite happy with the concept, just worried that it is quite ambitious. Esteban asked me if I think it fits the brief, to which I replied “Yeah! Of course!”. He just laughed about how confident I am lol… So yeah, Ni and I have lots of work to do, but I am confident that we will do it – if we work hard, then I think it will be quite a strong project.
Secondly, I have an animation brief on at the moment too – I’m not too sure when it is due in though, which I must check. It is based on memories, has to be between 30 and 45 seconds, and we have to create the sound before animating. I want to do a simple black and white drawn animation of ‘The problems with getting older”. An old woman is jumping up and down in front of a mirror which is on the wall, but because she has shrunk in her old age, she has to jump to see herself. However, as she is jumping up and down, her saggy boobs bounce up and down and eventually hit her in the face. In mid-air, she pees her self due to incontinence, and slips on it when she lands on the floor, causing her hip to break and she hits the floor. Her false teeth fall out and is left laying on the floor with two black eyes.
You may be wondering what this has got to do with memories as it hasn’t happened to me yet. Well, a couple of weeks ago, I was round my gran’s and I walked into the passage and found my gran jumping up and down to see in the mirror – and when I asked her “Gran?! What the hell are you doing?!” she replied “It’s my age Tone, when you get older you shrink and all I can see is the top of my head in the mirror….”
Third, today, my MI group got given a live project by MTV to create a 20 second ident based on “Summer x1000″. It’s not a competition as such, because they just said that if our ident is good, then they will air it though out summer and include our named on it too. So I’ve just got to make it good! It’s amazing how many legalities there are though – no commercial music, no one famous, no public shots etc. etc. – all because they will get sued. You can’t even use famous landmarks or anything because of copy issues. It’s actually quite ridiculous.
Anyway, I have to have a mood board / story board / script ideas for Monday 15th February, where I will be pitching to the Director of MTV, the Art Director, two Senior Produces and the Creative Manager at the MTV studios in Camden. There are also job opportunities too for when we leave Uni if they like us enough. Which is just A-MAZE-ING. Like wow.
So I better come up with something good then eh!
Las but not least, I’m currently uploading the introduction to my new monthly blogcast that I will be doing. It’s taking ages because the internet connection is slow. It’s nothing special, and the opening credits are just there for the moment. I will post once it has uploaded. The first actual blogcast is due on the 1st of February which is this Monday – so I better get my arse into gear
Diva Mariah Carey showed a side we’ve never seen before. Her husband of 2 years Nick Cannon was shocked to realise his wife was prank calling his radio show.
She called into ‘Rollin’ With Nick Cannon’ on New York’s 92.3FM during a discussion on ‘Is porn bad for your relationship.’ Check the audio below LMAO
George Clooney has reportedly pledged to donate $1m (£619,693) to the Haiti relief efforts.
The Up in the Air star also previously donated to the cause as part of the $1m sum given by a group including Matt Damon, Brad Pitt and others, reports E!.
Pitt and partner Angelina Jolie, Sandra Bullock and Gisele Bündchen have further made personal donations of $1m or more to aid Haiti earthquake victims.
Clooney’s ‘Hope For Haiti Now’ telethon will air Friday night on a number of US TV networks and MTV in the UK.
Rob Dydrek and his Mtv2 show “Fantasy Factory” is something that I can’t help but love. This show kinda represents a small dream of mine. I’ve always wanted to live like the people in this show do. They’re so cool, have cool friends (John Mayer) and make great content. To visit the set or even work with the production crew would be one thing to cross off my list before I die. Once I watch an episode, I can’t stop watching them if they keep coming. It’s just a great fricken show. Crush it!
The neighbors of MTV’s Teen Mom star Farrah Abraham were not surprised by the arrest of her own mama Debra Danielson.
According to RadarOnline.com a neighbor says “I’ve seen the police at their house numerous times.”
Another neighbor: Miranda Smits says Farrah isn’t the nicest person, “If you come near her house she’ll yell at you.” Miranda Smits also said that Farrah was rude to her brother when he was walking by their house. “Farrah yelled out the window that he’s white trash.”
Farrah and her mama got into a heated argument on January 16, which results in Debra grabbing her daughter by the throat.
pabulum [pab-yuh-luhm] n. 1. something that nourishes an animal or vegetable organism; food; nutriment 2. material for intellectual nourishment
BIRTHDAY
Montesquieu (1689), Daniel Webster (1782), Thomas Watson (1854), A. A. Milne (1882), Cary Grant (1904), Danny Kaye (1913), Ray Dolby (1933), David Ruffin (1941), Kevin Costner (1955), Mark Messier (1961), Dave Attell (1965), Jesse L. Martin (1969), Joanna Newsom (1982), Seung-Hui Cho (1984)
STANDPOINT
While I type this, NBC and Conan O’Brien are said to be close to a deal that will end the O’Brien’s stint as host of The Tonight Show after a mere seven months.
The complete failure of Jay Leno’s nightly 10pm show on NBC caused the network to move the 60-year old back to his original time slot of 11:35pm, leaving no place for O’Brien.
Everyone’s talking about it and there’s really nothing new to say on the issue but I’d like to encourage everyone who reads this blog to boycott Leno from here on out, in whatever forum the dipshit appears. It’s a heartless thing he’d doing here, not to mention meaningless.
Is NBC expecting everyone to watch Leno just because? Old people will probably go back to watching Leno because most old people, from as much as I can tell, like the kind of dopey crap he presents.
O’Brien will land on his feet. FOX is very interested in talking to him. Plus, he’s probably going to get somewhere near $40 million for his trouble. But still, NBC and Leno should be kneecapped for what’s gone on.
QUOTATION
Everything is handed to society now. Before, you had to dig for it. I like that — digging for it. → Al Green
TUNE
In my head, I’ve a list of ten songs of which I will never tire. R.E.M.’s “The Great Beyond” is one of them. Maybe number three on that list. I’m not sure.
GALLIMAUFRY
→ My dream of a New Orleans Saints-San Diego Chargers Super Bowl was destroyed yesterday as the New York Jets (that’s right) beat Philip Rivers and crew in a surprising 17-14 upset. Let’s go, Saints!
→ Dear Mark McGwire, please shut the fuck up. We all know you did steroids. We all know you are now admitting it so that you can get a job in baseball. We all know that you’re a disgrace to athletes everywhere. We get it. Go away.
→ In a shocking development, MTV is actually producing a show featuring (I hope you’re sitting down) – MUSIC! Vampire Weekend did an episode of MTV Unplugged. And there wasn’t even a cameo by the cast of Jersey Shore.
A while back I met an eager sub that quickly became a precious play partner. The energy we shared was fabulous. It’s submission divine. From the first session, it was apparent that the power exchange we shared was unique. It proclaimed the longing desire to be owned by me and to be a part of my stable. So, we slowly walked the path. Each time nurturing the bond that was organic. To be owned is equivalent to the sacred vows of a marriage. A life long commitment with mutual understanding. It would belong to me. Fully. Mind, body, soul & sexuality. Everything. Eternally. Just as my sacred Blue & Lily.
From the beginning, I made my first rule crystal clear:
it will serve NO ONE but me.
and it fully agreed and understood my expectations.
We were off to a good start & continued on.
Consideration of my ownership is not given to anyone. I chose Puttana to train. I felt that it too held the same dedicated quality as my Blue and the ability to serve mindfully & unconditionally. As we’ve approached a new year, I’ve learned otherwise. Our friendship outside of our D/s relationship led it to make decisions which in turn severely led me to abort the mere thought of possible ownership. It is a huge responsibility to take one under your tutelage. My time is precious and the time we shared was ours and special. I had great hopes for us. I feel we both did. I gave it many opportunities to attempt to salvage our D/s relationship. Although the pompous and self centered actions it took were full of ego and now covers it’s judgment in a veil of blissful ignorance. Once protocol is breached, there is nothing else left….even when you consider one a friend. I have no hatred in my heart. Life tends to reveal things to us as time progresses. If we listen, you’d be surprise what you REALLY hear. My only wish for it now is I hope it finds happiness as it no longer lies with me. That I give as a friend. Not Miss Lola. While my departure from it is bittersweet. It is necessary…may you find clarity ‘it’ & as time passes you will come to realize what we did have can never be duplicated-EVER it is not something you’ll find in a random turn over of house Dommes. Puttana is now dead. No longer existent. I bid it now a warm farewell.
Cobalt is one of my favorite colours of all time. My boyfriend calls this shade of blue ‘Meghan blue’, because he thinks its the best colour on me. I’ve been told that cobalt is my hue since grade 9, when my family did a portrait in the colour.
This deep yet bright colour really freshens up your face no matter what! Whether you’re complexion is pale, medium or dark, or if you’re a blonde, brunette or red head, this colour can bring out the best in you. The element that this colour has, that a lot do not, is it doesn’t wash you out and it doesn’t over power you! Here are some awesome examples of stars of varying complexions and hair colours to show you exactly what I mean…
The range of complexions and hair colours here demonstrates to you that this colour is eye catching and really does give a glow to your face and your colouring. Its rare for one colour to do this for all these women, and it can do it for you too! This is a hot colour right NOW!!
Teddy Pendergrass, the Philadelphia soul singer whose husky, potent baritone was one definition of R&B seduction in the 1970s but whose career was transformed in 1982 when he was severely paralyzed in an auto accident, died on Wednesday night in Bryn Mawr, Pa. He was 59.
His death was confirmed by his publicist, Lisa Barbaris, who said Mr. Pendergrass had been treated for colon cancer since August at Bryn Mawr Hospital and had suffered many complications.”
In some situations, that seems like a good thing; however, I am having a problem with second-hand embarrassment for the inhibition-free, liquid courage drinking casts of new shows.
Case in point: Jersey Shore.
The appeal started from a MTV series called True Life – where Jersey Shore natives were first released on the world. From that point on, the budding relationship with Guidos/Guidettes and the American public blossomed, leading first to “My New Haircut” and then a hit reality series on MTV.
There has been some controversy over the show. Italian American groups are not happy about the way these particular “Guido Italian Americans” are presenting themselves on national television – Snooki clearly explains the Guido pride:
To be honest, the first time I actually saw a FULL episode of this show was this weekend. Previously, the only part of the show I had seen was a scene that was never aired due to its controversial content – on the Huffington Post it shows “Snooki” getting punched in the face. See here.
Oh Snooki.
As I watched with my siblings and cousin, I felt my blood pressure rise, my face turn red and my anxiety hit. I had to leave the room and hang out with the “adults.”
I don’t know if it’s the awkward fist-pump dancing, steroid infused bodies, the Guido blowouts, or the orange skin that makes me more uncomfortable. I also don’t understand how this combination captures the attention of MTV viewers successfully enough for them to have a Season 2, but maybe I’m just getting to old for this stuff.
I refuse to watch anymore of the mind-numbing Season 1, so Season 2 is not in the cards for me either. Despite my disdain for this awkward “reality” series, apparently there is one episode in which Michael Cera joined the cast and learned the “Italian-American” ways. I had no desire to watch the entire episode, but since I do like Michael Cera, I needed to satisfy my curiosity. So I looked it up online and was left with a little bit of a laugh:
I heard once that, “if you change the way you view the world, the world around you will change.” (or something along those lines, haha).
Going back today with an open mind and heart made me see opportunities that I missed yesterday. Being positive is a great feeling and brings happiness to people around you as well. It made the day go by faster and I didn’t come home with a fatty headache! (Even though I got lost on the subway, AGAIN!)
Today I finished the press kit mailing for VH1’s Soul Train. A press kit is basically a press release and little sneak peak of the show that will be premiering. It contains information about the show so the person or organization you are sending it to can write a story or article about it (which in turn will help generate publicity and buzz about it.)
I’m getting better at clipping articles. Today I did the daily newspapers (NY Times, Wall Street Journal, Newsday, etc), weekly magazines (US Weekly, Hip Hop, People, etc) and trade magazines (Ad Age, etc).
It’s very motivating to see the publicity senior VP and VP’s in their offices. They’re large and in charge! They always seem cool, confidant and collected.
*By the way, my little sister got a job interview at Crumbs Cupcakes on Thursday! Yay for her! She’s super excited so wish her luck!*
When I initially saw Tila Tequila’s video with her and Casey Johnson lying around in their bras as Tila announced their “engagement,” I felt nauseated by how clearly Tila seemed to be taking advantage of this young woman who barely spoke a word.
As Tila flaunted her alleged 17 carat diamond ring throughout the video and kept repeating umpteen times that “Casey Johnson was the Johnson and Johnson heiress,” it was obvious to me what was going on. As the tape progressed, Tila hit her “fiancé” up for a donation to Tila’s charity. Then at the end of the tape, Tila’s parting words about her “fiance” were she can pretty much “buy your ass because she a bajllionaire.”
A short while later Tila turned up at a Snoop Dogg event with Casey in tow, kissing and mugging for camera as they publically announced their engagement . Tila was clearly in charge. She pawed Casey and directed her as she would a rag doll.
In looking at these two , I couldn’t help but notice that something was very wrong. Casey looked out of it- a complete mess, with ratted hair that looked like it had not been combed in weeks. Her eyes looked half open and her movements were sloppy and slow as though she was skipping a beat.
WHERE WAS” FIANCE” WHEN JOHNSON’S CORPSE BEGAN TO TURN COLD AND BLUE AFTER DAYS
So when I heard Casey Jonson died, I wasn’t surprised. But when I heard that she and was left for dead for days until her ice cold body which was turning blue was discovered by her landlord, I was very surprised by this tragedy. My first thought was what happened to her “fiancé”? Where was she in all of this tragic mess ? How could someone be “engaged “ to someone no matter what sex they were and ignore the fact that their partner was not around for days!
THE NON-GRIEVING ATTENTION SEEKING “WIDOW”BODY LANGUAGE AND VOICE SAY IT ALL
So when her “fiancé” appeared thorough the media lamenting Case Johnson’s death, I thought it was hypocritical, opportunistic ,and repulsive.
Equally as tragic as Casey Johnson’s death were the on camera antics of “fiancé Tila. She has not shown one ounce of sadness or grief body language wise.
There was obviously a rift between the two or a lack of a photo op as Tila obviously hadn’t spoken to her fiancé in days and had no clue she was lying dead. Although Tila has been telling everyone who will listen that she is the poor grieving mate , she has yet to display once ounce of grief, at least publically.
Instead, she is relishing in all of the attention. She is like a pig in a mud pen. She loves her new role as it is a wonderful vehicle to get out there in the media and share her new projects which she did on RadarOnline. It was being nauseating to me. To seize the opportunity of someone’s tragic demise to enhance your own career is beyond egregious.
POSING SEXILY FOR THE PAPPS ISN’T ANYONE’S IDEA OF A GRIEVING MATE
While everyone grieves and mourns differently, I have never heard of anyone doing it while cheekily posing in front of camera in a sexy provocative poses. Showing their low cut cleavage, mugging for the camera, showing off your stomach, wearing short pants that show your butt cheeks and tilting your head down in a coquettish gesture, says that it is all about YOU, not about your respect for the deceased.
TILA’S VIDEOTAPED MESSAGE TO CASEY JOHNSON SHOWS SHE’S NOT THAT BROKEN UP OVER HER DEATH
When she gave a videotaped message directly to Casey, Tila’s body language and her vocal tone spoke volumes. Her tone was absolutely DEVOID of any inflection indicating emotion. It was flat and monotone, indicating that she really didn’t care about Casey. Instead, she cared that a camera was pointed in her direction.
One could argue and say, well perhaps that is just the way Tila sounds. Perhaps she is just a one tone note girl. But she is not. She is loud and bubbly and animated and very watchable. You never know what she is going to do next. She is so exciting to watch and so full of life, animation and movement through the varied symphony of her voice and her movements that she was even given her own television show by MTV – A Shot of Love With Tila Tequila where she had to choose a mate among both male and female contestants.
HER BODY LANGUAGE SAYS THE OPPOSITE OF HER WORDS
On the video Tila says “ Casey I just wanna say that love you so much and I miss you so much.” As Tila speaks those words what is very telling is that she shakes her head” no.”
Then she says she wishes Casey was there— not because she misses her and loves her. (Are you ready or this? It is because there is so much chaos.” CHAOS???? She wishes she was there because of the CHAOS? As Tila speaks these words, she looks to the right and then to the left and bites her lip Then she says, “ of that really matters to me.” (OBVIOUSLY IT DOES MATTER THE fact that she mentioned it in the first place. The lip biting indicates that she is holding back on the truth. Of course the CHAOS matters to her She is loving it because Casey’s untimely death and the CHAOS it created, brought Tila what is now 30 minutes of fame .
Then she places her hand on her chest in dramatic fashion in a face and a voice devoid of emotion says. “all that matters to me is that I love you and I know you loved me and you will always be in my heart.” Then in a moment of what could consider to be bad acting, dramatically clutches her heart.”
All of this could have been stomached if there was at least one ounce of emotion present, but there was not. Her body language an d vocal tone indicted that there was very little feeling for Casey, if any feeling at all.
Instead, she is relishing in all of the attention. She is like a pig in a mud pen. She loves her new role as it is a wonderful vehicle to get out there in the media and share her new projects which she did on RadarOnline. It was being nauseating to me. To seize the opportunity of someone’s tragic demise to enhance your own career is beyond egregious behavior.
NOT INVITED TO THE FUNERAL TILA NOW REFERS T CASEY AS HER “WIFE”
Obviously, I am not the only one who saw through Tila’s egregious behavior. The Johnson family saw it as well and did not allow her to come to the funeral. Perhaps they felt that Tila may have enabled their daughter one way or the other. Who knows for certain.
But whatever the case, Tila is now hitting the airwaves getting what is now up to 45 minutes of fame decrying the fact that the Johnson family didn’t let her say her last goodbyes to Casey.
As Casey was buried on Sunday, Tila exclusively told RadarOnline.com “Yes her funeral is today and I can’t even see my “wife” for the last time to say goodbye to her and see her. It’s breaking my heart… I’m crying so bad, they are horrible, mean people. Sure, one day I can visit her grave but I will never ever get to see her face again to say goodbye and kiss her before they bury her.
LARRY KING LIVE?
There are conflicting reports as to whether Tila will or will not appear on Larry King Live. If she does appear on the show , rest assured I will provide you with my take on her body language and what she is really saying between the lines.
But as I see it now, what more can she say. She was obviously enamored by Casey Johnson’s status as a member of the Johnson and Johnson empire. She let that be known in her video. She was not there when Casey was in bad physical shape from possibly who knows what ( not being monitored for her diabetes, not eating well, not taking her medicines, combining medicines, taking too much medicines, not taking enough medicines, a drug overdose, or who know what else.)I won’t speculate on what ended this beautiful young woman’s life. All I can say is that the person who claimed to lover her- her “fiancé” was not in contact with her for days. The thought of having someone die alone in an empty apartment with one one finding them until days later is a horrific thought.
The last person I want to see on Larry King live is Tila Tequila. That would give her yet another 15 minutes of fame, which now adds up to 60 minutes. I think that is enough attention and enough of using a troubled woman’s tragedy as a way of getting more attention! www.drlillianglass.com
Last night I sat down to watch my favorite can’t-look-away spectacle Jersey Shore (to give you an idea of my extremely high tolerance level for trash, my previous favorite spectacles have been Rock of Love Bus with Bret Michaels and The Real Housewives of New Jersey).
If you were looking for a visual definition of class, this is it.
As I watched Sammi and Ronnie get into a rather dramatic, almost relationship-ending fight over her big toe (I don’t think I’m being hyperbolic when I say this might have been the most ludicrous fight of all time), I realized something about myself. I, like Sammi, enjoy getting offended and I purposely set myself up for it. Jersey Shore raises so many legitimate questions: is being a self-identified “guido” offensive, is it alright to show violence against women on TV, why do Italians chose such god-awful nicknames for themselves? But I’ve realized the most important question of all is: why the fuck am I watching this?
The easiest answer I’ve heard is that watching horrible people makes us (the normal, good people) feel better about ourselves. I don’t buy this. Watching an hour of Jersey Shore and a half hour of Jersey Shore: After Hours (yeah, I really did) didn’t make me feel like one seriously classy lady compared to the skanky-as-all-hell, Snookie. It made me feel like a piece of shit who is wasting her life watching numbing MTV reality shows. So again, why do I watch it?
I think that I, along with many others, watch shows like Jersey Shore because we enjoy being offended. Earlier this week I watched Transformers 2 simply because I heard it was incredibly bad and I wanted to get offended and worked up by racist black robots. And let me tell you, I was really offended. But I fucking loved it. I enjoyed ranting to my friends about how shitty a director Michael Bay is and how I couldn’t believe I had seen such racist representations in a movie made in 2009.
I enjoy watching Jersey Shore for similar reasons. As a woman, I watch the show and witness a plethora of frighteningly sexist talk, behaviors and attitudes that obviously offend me. As a person with Italian heritage, I watch the show and see stereotypes that are not only outdated, but are really, really stupid. In a way, watching Jersey Shore enables me to watch my greatest fears about human nature and American culture come to life. If I didn’t watch awful reality shows that offended me on so many levels, then I’d be living in a kind of bubble. I’d be living my snooty Manhattan life surrounded by my over educated friends and I might forget that not everyone thinks the way I do.
So, is watching spectacle TV purely for the joy of getting offended acceptable? Probably not. But if I never watched another bad reality TV show and chose to only absorb the most critically acclaimed, high brow entertainment, would I really be that much better off? It certainly wouldn’t give me as great an understanding of the American people as Cops does. Everyone knows that reality TV isn’t real. But I’m going to keep watching it and continue to get worked up about it because I believe that it contains quite a bit more than a sliver of truth. And if I’m right and it does, we’re fucked.
It’s only the second episode of The Real World: D.C. and already those crazy kids in the house have paired up and few have started shacking up. Some shacks are made of straw, others of wobbly wood, and others are built of dark chocolate.The only thing they’ve done so far is meet, go out clubbing, and grope all over each other. No wonder.
Andrew + Callie= <3
The super annoying Andrew has made it his mission to lay the surprisingly likable Callie and thankfully this is not achieved. Not even his animal hats or stupid blue glasses can help her over so he of course goes and brings back a blond skank to make out with in the hot tub. This is all thankfully cock blocked by the girls in the house, and a blue balled Andrew is pissy at breakfast. Callie is now weary of him and now he’s gonna back off. For now. Muahaha.
TY+EMILY 4EVA
These two try and stop the forbidden passion but it is slowly revealed through naked chases, grinding, and jealousy. She is being a cuddle tease but eventually his bravado wins him some snuggling. I actually like these two, but hate Emily’s bitch sister. Ty was less angry and opinionated this week which equals less of me beating the remote against my coffee table.
ASHLEY AND MIKE+THE NEW FRIEND
Ashley and Mike kiss, but is concerned because he kisses boys. Ashley is then upset because she assumes everyone thinks she’s in love with a gay guy. Oops, I’m sorry, he’s bi. In the end Mike brings home Robbie (“Mike’s New Friend”) from a club and no one really cares. I dislike Mike more and more. Ashley is fine as long as she’s not talking to Ty plus she looks like a poor man’s Nikki Reed.
JOSH N ERICA
These two didn’t do anything. Josh also brought someone home but no one cared. And Erica got into a semi-fight with Andrew’s hook up but it was lame. Sigh, I expected more from these two. So much wasted sexual tension. It should also be noted I highly disapprove of Josh’s wearing of guyliner.
Next week in the hook up house, sexual tension mounts and it can be assumed they will continue clubbing, grinding, and cuddling. God bless America!
I mean, what?! They’ve been dating since the VMA’s in September and the news was confirmed to MTV on January 6th, 2010 by Russell Brand’s rep (Story link here). Even though I don’t particularly approve of him, congratulations to the couple.
dogmatic [dawg-mat-ik, dog-] 1. of, pertaining to, or of the nature of a dogma or dogmas; doctrinal 2. asserting opinions in a doctrinaire or arrogant manner; opinionated
BIRTHDAY
Sir Isaac Newton (1643), Jacob Grimm (1785), Don Shula (1930), Dyan Cannon (1937), Bernard Sumner (1956), Patty Loveless (1957), Matt Frewer (1958), Michael Stipe (1960), Dave Foley (1963), Julia Ormond (1965), David Berman (1967)
STANDPOINT
So, not only is it the the end of a year, it’s the end of a decade. Which, in my estimation, has more than quadrupled the annual year-in-review nonsense. What is the use of exploring what’s transpired in the last 365 days? Or the last 3,652.42199? (That’s exactly how many days are in a decade which kind of weirds me out.)
In any case, I’m only a human being. And so I’ve read some of these lists. Apparently, 2009 is one most people would like to see flushed down the toilet with extreme prejudice. (I’m one of them, but not due to anything outside of my own personal experience.) This past year was, according to most accounts, one filled with tantamount portions of both doom and gloom. And, while I guess everyone is right and everything is sort of shitty, I think it’s wholly irrefutable things could be worse.
And, the reason is this: In the course of perusing and pondering all the recent trials and tribulations of our downtrodden society, I came upon Yahoo!’s Year In Review – Top 10 Searches. I concluded shit can’t be all that bad after reading what people seem to actually care about.
Despite the times, we’ve clearly got an advantage over any other generation that came before us because, in the internet, we’ve got a vast archive of information that can help better pretty much any situation. I was fully expecting terms like, “financial help,” and “employment opportunities,” to appear somewhere on a list of top searches by a group of individuals who spend most of its time worrying about the future. But, as happens more than not, people leave me disappointed.
Instead of searching for help, everyone’s searching for crap. The top search term of the year was Michael Jackson. Before his untimely death, only the most ardent fans truly seemed to care about whatever odd capers Jacko was involved in. Once he died, everyone took an active interest and felt the need to seek out information on someone they pretty much knew everything about in the first place.
The rest of the top search list was, in order, The Twilight Saga, WWE, Megan Fox, Britney Spears, Naruto (whatever the fuck that is), American Idol, Kim Kardashian, NASCAR and Rune Scape (again, huh?).
Once finding this data, I decided that, hey, everything’s going to be just fine. Because, if life was as seriously dismal as most would have us believe, we’d probably spend less time question for knowledge on tweener flicks, supposed sports, irrelevant celebrities, reality television and, again, whatever those other two are.
Let’s just relax people and collectively ease back from the ledge. If, as as culture, we’re concerning ourselves with such inconsequential nonsense on the internet, how ominous could it really be? Right?
QUOTATION
You know, Hitler wanted to be an artist. At eighteen, he took his inheritance, seven hundred kronen, and moved to Vienna to live and study. He applied to the Academy of Fine Arts and later to the School of Architecture. Ever see one of his paintings? Neither have I. Resistance beat him. Call it overstatement but I’ll say it anyway: it was easier for Hitler to start World War II than it was for him to face a blank square of canvas. → Steven Pressfield
TUNE
I’m fully aware of the fact that, in terms of music, I’ve a tendency to circulate around certain artists. Sorry. Some of these folks are just too damn good. I found “New Amsterdam” on vodpod (a site I feel you should most likely be checking out) over the weekend and decided to share one of my favorite Elvis Costello offerings.
GALLIMAUFRY
→ I’m disgusted to report that even I’m not immune to the controversial MTV “reality” show Jersey Shore. The creators should be rounded up, along with anyone remotely involved including the cast, stuffed into a bag and hammertossed into the ocean. That said, I’m still watching it. Shit, I’m watching it right now. Christ.
→ It seems the Philadelphia Eagles‘ run of stepping ass-backward into big piles of sunshine has come to a close. Yesterday’s shutout loss the Dallas Cowboys was pretty embarrassing. Luckily, instead of enjoying the bye week they’d have earned from a victory, the whole team gets to go back to Dallas next week and do it all over again.
→ Jeff Bridges might finally get his due with an Oscar nod this year for his role in Crazy Heart. About effing time.
On August 1, 1980, Mtv launched with the rallying cry “ladies and gentleman, rock and roll!” and made television history with the Buggles Video Killed The Radio Star, followed by You Better Run by Pat Benatar.
Mtv was, at the least, a revolutionary idea. It introduced us to great artists such as The Police, Duran Duran, Madonna, and Billy Idol. The network also broke color and success barriers with the airing of Michael Jackson’s Billie Jean. Jackson would later go on to have massive success with the music video genre right up until his death in June 2009.
According to the BBC, what Mtv did was allow the record companies “to market and package bands to a much greater degree than before.” “MTV was born partly out a backlash by the music industry in an attempt to boost sales” says pop music lecturer Simon Warner.
This push also enabled record companies to push their bands through videos without relying on live performance, which musicians of the past heavily relied on. It also gave the 80’s a fresh start in music by ushering in acts such as the Eurythmics, U2, and Tears For Fears.
With that said, here is some of the best videos that were ever aired on Mtv.
Tune in this Saturday, Jan. 2nd 2010, at 5:00 p.m. EST for MTV’s MADE!
Watch the brand new episode of MTV’s MADE Pageant Beauty Queen show with Matt and Meredith Boyd of Matt Boyd Photography! Below are some candid shots of the filming at our makeup and photo studio in Atlanta of Brittany as she prepares for her first professional photo shoot.
It’s only the second episode of The Real World: D.C. and already those crazy kids in the house have paired up and few have started shacking up. Some shacks are made of straw, others of wobbly wood, and others are built of dark chocolate.The only thing they’ve done so far is meet, go out clubbing, and grope all over each other. No wonder.
