Sometimes I duck fast, sometimes I duck quick

The journalist has good aim, but Bush is quicker!!



I give it up to the journalist, it takes a nice set of cohones to do this. But he'll pay for it dearly.
I know that the official stance of the US Government is no torture . . . but I think they are about the F-k this dude up. Waterboarding . . . Bush had a vendetta against Saddam because of his dad.

Unfortunately for you my friend, Bush will LAY YOU DOWN!

Public nuisance

This is what happens when you don't take your medication . . . To all public nuisance, such as this uncouth girl, Lay it Down!

Illinois Gov Rod Blagojevich

This is too easy . . . and too obvious. So for the sake of brevity, please Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, just Lay It Down!

Secret Millionaires

I just finished watching the first episode of Secret Millionaires, a new reality/documenatary show on Fox. The premise of the show is that millionaires leave behind their life of luxury for week and live undercover at a poverty/welfare level. With cameras and a production crew in tow, they go in search of people for whom they can give a gift to better their lives. They must give a minimum of $100,000 to someone who needs it. For the week, they are fully immersed in their new identities. At the end of the week, the reveal their true identities, gift check hand, to the people they have chosen to be benefactors to.

I have placed Reality TV in the Narcissism Box. I abhor those who try to mask this vehicle as something other than a self-serving opportunity to promote themselves in some fashion. I approached this show the same way. However, it surprised me. I have only watched the first episode, and it made me a little emotional. I normally maintain a certain amount of detachment. But this show drew me in.

While watching the show I went through a number of emotions. First was cynicism. Before I watched the show, I was skeptical about the premise. This seemed like a situation in which the rich and wealthy get to feel good by dropping a few dollars to the underprivileged. And the producers get to make money off of it, much like the Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. These millionaire benefactors will live this life for a week, be touched by the people they meet, give a token gift, and then return to their normal lives. With each passing month they will forget. Like when you are in church and hear a great sermon and are moved by it. You vow to make a change but with each passing hour after church, that feeling dissipates. That lifestyle or mindset changes becomes a faint memory by the time you return to church the next weekend.

I then felt empathy for the people that the millionaires met. These were people who were hard up. In the first episode the father and son stated that [they have always believed the poor or down and out were in their situation because they were ignorant, uneducated, or lazy]. Instead they came to realize that life is not always fair. One woman was working to get back on her feet after living homeless for over a year. She fell while working and fractured discs in her back. Unable to meet her medical expenses, her house and possessions were repossessed. Then there was the woman who ran a shelter out of her home for anyone who needed it, with money from her social security income. A kid said that prior to coming to the shelter, he and his mother lived in their van for over a year. Each situation the millionaires on the show encountered were just as touching.

Next came anger. Anger at the rich and spoiled in their indulgences. The excesses I see on TV or read about started to disgust me. I’m not talking about living well or enjoying the fruits of your success. I’m talking about spending over a million dollars to build a pool and grotto so you can compete with what Hugh Hefner has (Yes, I’m talking about you Gilbert Arenas). I think about the MTV Cribs shows, the opulence of the rich and famous.

Then guilt. Although I am not as rich as the millionaires, some of my behaviors are no different than theirs. Unlike some of these millionaires, I don’t think that those that are destitute are necessarily in their current situation because they deserve to be –because of something they have or have not done, because they cannot pull themselves up by their bootstraps. I could volunteer more of my time, forgo many of the useless and valueless luxuries to provide necessities for those who desperately need them.

Joy. I felt joy for the folks that received the blessings. Life throws boulders your way sometimes. And it can be very difficult to get back up after being knocked down. I shared in the joy of the recipients of the gifts – receiving a providential gift. It restores faith in the human spirit. Too often we think that everyone is out for number one. But in the show, the people who receive the gifts truly deserve them. They are the types of people who give of themselves first, who open doors to the homeless, feed the hungry and clothe the naked. They are the people who will be first in line in Heaven. The Salt of the Earth, for whom the Beatitudes were spoken.


My final thoughts

The show aims to do good, but it is inevitably flawed. Much like a black-tie fundraising event. The fundraiser event spends a ton of money to raise a ton of money, but only a small fraction goes to the cause for which the money is being raised. The overhead costs of putting on the function eats away a big chunk of the money. Their largesse would go a much longer way without the pomp and circumstance.

Do the TV execs plan to share of the ad revenue with the deserving destitute? Or do they just plan to milk our viewership (which converts to the ad revenue) by tugging on our heartstrings.

It is reality TV. There are cameras following the millionaires around. People put on their best behavior in front of cameras. I question the authenticity of what we see. Not necessarily the veracity, but are the emotions always genuine. How many times were scenes re-shot because they did not capture the right angle? What about the scripting? By now most people know that a certain amount of “reality TV” is scripted.

The show’s premise is not new. But I do laud the attempt to bring light to those on the fringes of our society. So I won’t throw out the baby with the bathwater. I’ll keep some of my reservations in my back pocket.

Lay It Down: The YES WE CAN! edition

Lay It Down: The YES WE CAN! Edition

In the wake of this momentous victory I wanted to write a special Lay it Down – the YES WE CAN! edition. The results showed that We Can Change from the way things were, the way things have been in the past. Yes we can Lay Down the burdens that we have been carrying for centuries. We can Lay Down the shackles and dance. So in the wake of this momentous victory we can say Lay IT Down to . . . .

Lay it down divisive politics

Lay it down smear campaign strategies

Lay it down to the voices of hate

Lay it down to the race-baiting

Lay it down to desperation

Lay it down to fear mongering

Lay it down to religious condemnation

Lay it down to the lies and propaganda

Lay it down to the Bradley Effect

Lay it down to Red state vs. Blue state

Lay it down to name calling: terrorist, traitor, un-American, socialist, communist, The Manchurian candidate, sleeper cell

Lay it down to those who blame the downtrodden for their plight

This election was brought about by the grassroots. The thousands who realized the enormity of Decision 2008. The thousands who knew there was more at stake than just results from another election of candidates with homogeneous ideas. The thousands of volunteers helping the campaign – people like my father-in-law, Jose Laguna Sr. Although as a foreign-born resident he couldn’t vote, he hit the streets daily, for hours, informing his neighbors of the issues and policies, helping people register to vote, letting them know where the polling stations were located.

A new day dawns upon America. A new page is being written in American History. Dreams have been realized. Hope has been refreshed. Our minds have been opened up to new possibilities. There are new realities. The Paradigms have changed. The Restoration of the American Spirit. A Rejuvenation.

YES WE CAN!

VH1's Ungodly Spawn

I previously posted a Lay It Down on Flavor Flav, denouncing the coonery of the show. This post makes an assumption that you are familiar with the subject matter, if not, apprise yourself with All-Knowing Wikipedia (be sure to follow the other links for the related items). As an aside, Bamboozled by Spike Lee is a fantastic movie to watch. It will help put things in perspective.
Here are other takes on the Flavor Flav shows:
A blogs.sohh.com
B politicalpalace.yuku.com


In the post, I admitted watching the show. Just recently, I saw a new show, Real Chance At Love, that centered on the two brothers, Real and Chance, who were castaways from shows that trace their lineage to Flavor of Love. So I started wondering: How did we arrive at this point? Where did it all start?

It’s time to scale the VH1’s Family Tree of Flavor of Love.

Once upon a time music video channels used to play music videos. Then a show name The Real World came along and transformed the landscape. Since then, MTV began to shift its focus to reality shows as its staple product. VH1 followed suit. VH1 found its Goose That laid the Golden Eggs.

---click on the picture to see a larger image

VH1 has been masterful! Plucking Flavor Flav from the WB channel and pasting him on the forefront of the reality madness. They created a Bizarro Abraham which spawned multitudes of shows. And Behold, VH1 saw that millions watched show, and said unto itself, what I have made is good!

Recap:

The Surreal Life:
This reality show puts has-been, washed-up, and generally past-their-prime celebrities, stars, or athletes together in house (Big Brother style) and let’s the camera roll. The show records them as they navigate their way through tasks and activities assigned to them by the show’s producers while generating great TV drama with the inevitable conflicts arising from the varied personalities.

Flavor Flav is cast as one of the housemates on the reality show Surreal Life where a burgeoning romance with Brigitte Nielsen in spun off into another reality show called Strange Love. Strange indeed. After the relationship with Nielsen inevitably failed, Flav decided to have a pageantry of misfits, strippers, and all sorts of fame-hungry women on The Flavor of Love in hopes of finding love. Unfortunately, the “winner” Hoopz did not find you to be a desirable mate, so it was on to Season 2. Again, love was not to be, as Deelishas, was just using the show as platform to launch her music and clothing line of jeans for women with big butts. When that connection inevitably failed, Season 3 was thrust upon us. Hopes of Flav finding love the third time around were once again dashed – by Flav himself. Flav discards the winner of Season 3, instead choosing to return to the mother of his children.

The Flavor of Love formula breeds ungodly children of its own. A memorable castoff, Tiffany (known as New York on the show) was given a spin-off: I Love New York (Seasons 1 & 2) and New York goes to Hollywood (currently). Capitalizing on the success of the Flavor of Love, VH1, using the same formula, created the Rock of Love, with Bret Michaels (Seasons 1 & 2) and A Shot at Love, with Tila Tequila (Seasons 1 & 2). Additionally, some the castaways and rejects from these shows were brought back on I Love Money, where, instead of looking for love, they were competing for money.

Most recently, the Golden Goose has laid Real Chance of Love starring brothers Real and Chance, castaways from I Love New York and I Love Money. The brothers must choose from among contestants vying for their love and attention – or at least 15 minutes of hoochified fame.

Can we resist the onslaught of VH1’s swarming brood? Is VH1’s Flavor of Love progeny a truly unstoppable juggernaut?
I would like to ask them to Lay It Down, but I fear nothing can be done to stop this.

Till the next time. . .

Lay it Down Flava Flav

From the Archives . . .

Lay it Down Flava Flav

Flava Flav- The greatest Hype man in Hip-Hop who told us, “Don’t believe the hype!” I think you are starting to believe your own hype. It’s over. Your run is over, Lay It Down! I will admit, it was a great run, but Tha Return of Flav has run its course. Let ‘er go!

We remember Public Enemy for delivering socially conscious hip-hop letting the world know that there was more to hip-hop than gangsta rap, gold chains, and the sambo hip-hop for the sake of selling music. For those of us old enough to remember Chuck D entreating us to “Fight the Power” and you echoing the sentiments heard in every hood, “911 is a Joke,” your return to the spotlight made us exhale in disbelief. You made a return to our collective consciousness as the personification of the images and lyrics you once eschewed. The anti-thesis what Public Enemy stood for.

That may not be your problem because you are having fun and getting paid, right? NO, THAT IS EXACTLY THE PROBLEM. That is the definition of SELLING OUT! Evidently, you had your price!

Let’s recount how it happened:

Flava Flav is cast as one of the housemates on the reality show Surreal Life where a burgeoning romance with Brigitte Nielsen in spun off into another reality show called Strange Love. Strange indeed. After the relationship with Nielsen inevitably failed, Flav decided to have a pageantry of misfits, strippers, and all sorts of fame-hungry women on The Flava of Love in hopes of finding love. Unfortunately, the “winner” Hoopz did not find you to be a desirable mate, so it was on to season 2. Again, love was not to be, as Deelishas, was just using the show as platform to launch her music and clothing line of jeans for women with big butts.

In the end, after two seasons of The Flava of Love, Flav discards the “love” he found on the show for the mother of his children.

The Flava of Love has spawned ungodly children of its own. A memorable castoff, Tiffany (known as New York on the show) was given a spin-off: I Love New York (Seasons 1 & 2) and New York goes to Hollywood (coming soon). Capitalizing on the success of the Flava of Love, VH1, using the same formula, created the Rock of Love, with Bret Michaels (Seasons 1 & 2) and A Shot at Love, with Tila Tequila (Seasons 1 & 2). Additionally, some the castaways and rejects from these shows were brought back on I Love Money, where, instead of looking for love, they now compete for money.

VH1 has been masterful! Plucking the Flava Flav from the WB channel and pasting him on the forefront of the reality madness, replaying the show every couple of hours daily.

And now, you have been granted a sitcom? And there is talk of you dropping an album? WHEN WILL THE MADNESS END??!!

Flava you stand at the summit of the Mountain of Buffoonery. Please accept the crown of King Sambo, the Maestro of Coonery.

Sadly, I admit that I watched the Flava of Love, Season One and Season Two. What can I say? It was entertaining!