Dangerously Beautiful

As you may remember, I have a slew of upcoming movies which I shall be attending in these next few months, whether I want to or not.  So without a doubt I caught Tyler Perry’s Why Did I Get Married Too this weekend.

However, this is no blog post giving giving my movie review.  Instead, let’s talk about: talking during the movies.  While some may complain, it is in my opinion that certain movies benefit so much from random crowd chattering.  Sure it can become annoying, especially when everyone is laughing every time Janet Jackson cried, but that extra commentary from Shaneka in the third row about how her man did the same thing- priceless.  You can realize that these movies are truly therapeutic for movie goers, especially when Shawn, who was supposed to go with Stacy but ended up going with Rene (Shaneka’s play-cousin), blurts out, “That’s not even cool, bruh,” when Malik Yoba opens the cake with the sparkly boy-toy inside.

I’m more like this when beaming up at the big screen:

But some of yall live up to this:

And I love it.

I know what movie I’m going to see and I know where I’m seeing it.  Getting touchy-feely about banter from your fellow movie goers during the opening weekend of a Tyler Perry flick is like being shocked that water is wet.  I don’t know if it’s cultural expression or ignorance under the guise of comedy. Regardless- Two thumbs up for hood cinema.

I was the last person on Earth to find out about Lady Gaga. Sure, I’d heard Poker Face sneaking about on radio, but I really don’t listen to radio like that, so I always just changed the station.  I don’t know what it was, but one day I decided to take a listen, so I downloaded both her albums and made a little Gaga playlist.

I’m into the sounds of electro-pop as of late, so this was right up my alley: Good pop songs with clean-&-bouncy production, catchy hooks & melodies, and something that doesn’t take itself too seriously.

And oh the visuals!  Over the top was 5 miles back.  I know people can manufacture edge and flamboyance, but at least she is consistent and she does it well.  For all the talk of how she was before becoming Lady Gaga…come on now, it’s entertainment, don’t we expect some theatrics?  I think all the Twitter-ing and Facebook has put us toooooo close to some celebs.  Celebrity is larger than life, so go on, dress it up.  It beats regular joes like Jersey Shore.

From the looks of things, she’s got others in the industry trying to up their weirdo-game up as well.

What will she think of next…

Blogging is the new black.  So is pink, purple, tweeting, sexting, and iPhones.  What happened to people and things being just who or what they are?  Is assimilating new thoughts into our hard-wired cognitive structuring through comparison the only way we can progress?

Take the following examples:

Has Lady Gaga ever heard a Madonna record? Most likely.  But, can Lady Gaga just be Lady Gaga?

Yea….No.  Does one pretty-young light bright mean the end of another pretty-no-longer-as-young light bright’s reign?

I’m closer to 30 than 20, but this just sounds like some old people shit.  I’ve loved most all of my ages, but I’d never want to do them again.  Let it go, love the life you’ve had and the one you are living today.

Maybe “This is the new That” is just a trendy catchphrase.  I think its another system of labeling and classifying everything that is new, misunderstood, or mysterious to make ourselves (i.e. media) more comfortable.

We have to be careful of how far we allow folklore to surpass fact before, indeed, fiction becomes the new fact.

Hello Ladies, I’d like to introduce you to the return of the dark ages:

I’ve heard of keeping the P on lock, but this is ridiculous.

Forget-me-not panties are the latest in spy (under)ware.

Advertised to both frightened parents and paranoid boyfriends (let’s not leave out girls with girlfriends)- these panty-trackers are made to find out what the vagina you want to keep in check is up to- whenever & wherever.

They can monitor both location and temperature. You’ve got to read the testimonials to really get a sense of the lameness desperation which these panties can comfort.

“When my daughter hit puberty I nearly had a heart attack. She started looking like a woman and suddenly she was wearing revealing clothing and staying out late with her friends.

They work wonderfully. My wife and I bought our Sarah several pairs so we can watch her around the clock, and if we see her temperature rising too high, we intervene by calling her cellphone or just picking her up wherever she is. My only comment is it would be great to have a video camera, maybe you can work that into V.2.”

All that free time traveling and you didn’t even have to punch 88 in your Delorean.

Parents: Trust in your good parenting and accept your child’s decisions.

Lovers: If you gotta do all this, she was never your’s. Let It Go.

3-2-1, 1-2-3…what the heck is bothering me?

YOU.

Deadlines, bills, work, miscommunication.

It can all pile up on you if you let it.

Remember to try to organize and prioritize, but also let things happen (contrary, I know).  Pay attention when your body tells you that you need rest.  Don’t overwhelm yourself.  And most importantly- TALK about things, no person is an island and life is much easier when we can share with our friends and loved ones.

Woosah.

The last dog I had was a cocker spaniel  named Humphrey.  He actually had a few different names (my personal fav. was Chester Bojangles). For as many names as he had, he had issues.  This dog was troubled.  We rescued him from a tough life on the streets and all he brought were his imperfections and impulse control issues.  BUT, Chester was a cocker spaniel.  I say that to say we don’t expect much from Chester, aside from not peeing inside the house.  We do, however, expect more of ourselves.

Humanity is based on the assumption that we have evolved from the triune “reptilian” brain that only reacts to stimuli and developed a prefrontal cortex that governs executive function, which along with opposable thumbs, gives us reign over the animal kingdom because it allows us to determine good and bad (I implore you to google/wiki all of this).

In the past week we have seen these examples of people who later apologize to say that their emotions got the best of them.  I’m all for being in touch with one’s emotions, I’d hate to live in a robot society that was too cold and mechanical to feel.

However, there has to be a switch that says, “Telling a 19y.o. she is undeserving of the award she just won is not the best thing I could do.”

Where is the think-switch that decides, “No one likes my opinions on the forum in which I’m paid to give it, so perhaps I should not stand in my bow-wow b-boy stance with Jigga & LiLi.”

There has to be an on/off button that says, “Heckling the President of the United States as the world watches is not good.”  (On a side note: Who the hell says, “YOU LIE!”…not “Liar,” not “You’re Lying,” but YOU LIE.  That may be too lame to label as disrespect)

I’m all for freedom of speech.   I’m definitely a big fan of this.   But if our emotions ALWAYS get the best of us, if our thoughts are ALWAYS overcome by our impulses and we think a simple apology will ALWAYS wash it away, how different from Chester are we?

“Don’t ever fix your lips like collagen and say something where you going to end up apologizing.” – Kanye West

Ok. I think it lived up to the season.  I must say that I watched the first season thinking “This is dumb, why am I watching it,” and now I proudly watch each and every episode.

I’ve been into good vampire tales since I started reading all the Anne Rice novels in the early 90s.  Actually I read Bram Stoker’s “Dracula” before that so….  I say that to say I don’t know nann about Twilight, so I don’t really know about the vampire craze that’s going on at the moment.

What I do know/anticipate: next season, werewolves.  We’ve heard about them and their nasty ways for two sesons now, so bring on the full moons.

And quit killing black people in your season finales.