Media Criticism

Does it resonate strong with yu?  Do you have tons of memories of traditions from your years as a child?  What does that entail?  For me, it’s homemade ice cream and watermelon with some burgers and hotdogs on the side.  I’ve only been part of one July 4th party that involved tons of people and that was a summer spent in Baton Rouge, Louisiana on the banks of a river as a fireworks show was shot from the boats.  Other than that, my Independence Day celebrations are much like other holidays, calm and easy, laid back and fun.

My kids think it is a “party” because one of my cousin’s birthday is on the 3rd and we will be getting together for that as well.  But, I’ve struggled to make them understand exactly what al the fun is about.

So, I went search of some definitions that are fitting for a 4 and 6 year olds but as of yet, I’m drawing blanks on what to tell them.  How do I explain Independence Day to young children?  Or is there anyone point in trying at their young age?

As usual, I come to you guys for my opinions.  So, I am going to hope that between now and the end of the day tomorrow, you guys can shot me some ideas on how to make the kids understand the whole idea.

In the end, we will head to my mom’s tomorrow, cook out, make ice cream, eat fruit kabobs, strawberry shortcake and water melons….yummmmy. 

You know, it’s hard to say what I really think but for the most part, I feel like the man has died and as long as the family is willing to share a memorial for their family member, then this is an excellent way to proceed.   Where will the memorial take place?  It is my understanding that it will take place at the Staples Center.  And, it will require a great deal of security due to the nature of the guests.  And, not to mention the nature of the number of people expected to attend. 

I personally have felt a twinge in my heart on an occasion in the last week over the passing of this man but I think mostly for his children.  They have lost their father, the only parent they’ve ever had and the word is that he was a very good father.  That information has to come from many sources so it has to be the case.

So, what do you think?  Would you go to the Memorial Service if you could?  I know there are many people from all of the country who are going because they felt such a close connection to Michael Jackson but for me, it wasn’t that kind of closeness.  It was truly one of him being a pop star and since he was such a private person, indeed, I think he and his family owe it to him to do their best to preserve his innocence as much as possible.

As you can probably tell from my other blogs that I have been mesmerized by the Michael Jackson stories just as many others have.  But, if you watched the BET’s on Sunday night you heard Janet ask that her family be allowed to mourn over their brother their family member. 

She said that she understood that he was a pop icon to the public but to her and her family, he was family.  It was very sad to watch as the stories rolled out and amazing to see the families pour out their love and admiration for Michael Jackson.  But, what about Farrah?

Am I crazy to think that just because we knew that Farrah’s death was imminent, she was so terribly pushed aside on Thursday?  She was the greatest Angel Charlie ever had and now she too is gone.

Are there any readers out there that remember when this poster was considered racey…

I do and in all honestly, look at her, she is completely clothed in comparison to models today,  I see models everywhere half naked.  Heck, have you ever seen Survivor?  Yea, I mean, those people get butt naked on regular broadcasting.

Speaking of that, do you think the Jackson family will really wait 4 to 6 weeks to have a burial?  Word is that if they want to do a public ceremony they will probably have to get the approval of all kinds of security.  Faces like Liza Minelli, Liz Taylor, Brooke Shields, Lisa Marie Presley and you never know when the Pop might show up.  So, I wonder what they will decide to do….

I have never heard this song nor seen this video….and I don’t really like it but with all things being the way they are…I find myself loving all things Michael Jackson.  Listening to his music over and over and over again……

I’ve made no bones about the fact that I love Janet and would totally be all over her and her body.  As a matter of fact, I’ve put in a request to be built like Janet in my next life.  I don’t have it in me to work hard enough to get a body like that.  I think alot of it may be genetics anyway plus I don’t have 8 hours to spend at the gym each day. 

Moving right along, this really is a good video but I’m not real good with things that seem a little too animated.  For instance, I didn’t like Thriller for about 5 years after it came out but I always loved Rhythm Nation.  I always Billy Jean and Janet as a video of her song If that I like, but basically…I like to listen to the music but not watch.

So, when I ran up on this youtube clip which apparently you can’t get to easily right now for all of the folks uploading and more so downloading Michael Jackson.  I hope it isn’t true that the man is worth more now than he was alive.  I know they say he was over $400 million dollars in debt.  But, record sales for him are going to soar and they should be able to get some of that back.

So, watch the video and tell me what you think…

So, I do try to keep my Flickr account updated and in case you are wondering, the pro account is well worth the little bit of money it cost to have it.  I often forget to load my photos on flickr because I don’t use my Flickr account for ordering prints, making books or anything of that nature.  I use my flickr account just for sharing with other folks.  So, when I see that people have connected with me on flickr, I hope that I haven’t let them down because honestly, my photos aren’t very good compared some of the photos I see.

I don’t make good pictures.  I can set folks up and I can come up with cute ideas for photos but I can’t necessarily push the button an have good quality photos appear on the other end.  So when I run up on some cool photos like the ones in this guy’s Flickr album, I really wonder if some people are just that creative.

Or is that creativity at all or is that one whacked out person behind the camera.  I mean, just look, some of them deserve to be featured even here.

So give me your opinion, is the person behind the lens on photos like this a work of creative art or the sign of a complete whacko?  Ok, let’s try another one.

He calls that one the CSI photo of  the Brutal Murder of Betty Boop.  What do you think?  Gets stranger by the day doesn’t it.

Ok last one, I’ll let this go after this one.  This is just absolutely insane and I am voting for crazy man on the other side of the camera…and you?

Ok, go look at the flickr feed and tell me what you think is the craziest of them all.

The Shaqland or the Kind and his emporer, whatever you want to call it, Shaq found out he had been traded on twitter yesterday.  Now, no one in the work force can complain about people blogging about their job (Dooce) or tweeting about their boss when someone of Shaq’s caliber learns that he has been traded.

I saw the tweets yesterday but can’t get to them today because there are so many other tweets between now and then.  Anyway, yes, Shaq has been traded to Cleveland and yes he could very well be playing with LeBron James and yes that could be awesome.

Does that gurantee a championship ring..heck know.  I just hate that Anfernee Hardaway (Penny) wasn’t able to keep up with Shaq.  I remember when each of them were in college and I remember oozing at the opportunity to watch them play.  I haven’t been able to see either of them as professionals but I would love to see Shaq play now, 19 years since I first saw him.

So, for those of you in Cleveland, enjoy and from now on, it’s game on and if you get fired or hired or traded on twitter, so don’t consider yourself too good to learn that way. Yea, Game ON!

Is this guy a monster or what? I was on my home from a doctor’s visit where I had read on twitter that we had lost Farrah.  I was sad, very sad.  Then, on the way home, the word of Michael Jackson’s death was being reported and I had just recently read on twitter that Shaq found out via twitter that he had been traded. 

The best part, Shaq refused to let the media focus on his trade, he insisted that the spotlight be focused on Michael Jackson.  If you don’t know anything bout Shaq, know that he is a class act and he very rarely allows the media to make him seem better than he is…and he is good.  But, he also knew that Michael Jackson’s death was a bigger story than his being traded to the Cav’s.  In reality, I don’t know if there is a story that is bigger than MJ….not even Farrah.

I wrote already about Farrah and I chose not to write about either yesterday as I just wasn’t sure how I felt.  I’ll be honest with you, if you read my Mental and Emotional Health blog, you know that I just discussed the difficulty I have with mourning these days.  I simply just can’t even cry most of the time, even when I need to.  But, in the previous few days, yes, I’ve found myself in tears on more than one occasion. 

Yesterday morning I cried several times and then when I hear that Farrah had lost her battle with cancer, tears came in my eyes.  Sounds crazy that I didn’t cry at my uncle’s funeral but I did get teary eyed over a celebrity.  I’ve already written about her.

As I was headed home from the doctor, where I actually found out about Farrah and got wet eyes, I found out about Michael Jackson.  TMZ was reporting that he had died while CNN said they could not verify it.  It’s sad when I trusted a paparazzi site more than I did a news site but TMZ is that good.

I just heard that an autopsy is being performed on MJ because his cause of death is unknown. I also read that they were on the hunt for his doctor.  So, since I am just now getting around to looking and reading the news, I”m sure I am behind.

But, anyway, the fact is, Farrah is an icon from my childhood and Michael Jackson is an icon from my teenage years.  And, with that, I guess I’ve entered that phase of my life where people just start to die.  Having never experienced a death of anyone close to me until I was 19 and lost my father, this is all a bit odd.  I’ve lost uncles in the last few years and now, celebrity icons are dropping like flies. 

I honestly can’t say how I feel about that…

Naturally, the loss of the Greatest Angel Ever, Farrah Fawcett was painful yesterday. I chose not to blog this yesterday because I had to put my thoughts in order.  I grew up watching Farah as one of Charlie’s Angels and I”m telling you, there is no crime show out there now that can compete with Charlie’s Angels.  No one wears a bikini like Farah because people are yelling feminism and instead of looking at her and thinking “she is successful in her career” people would be blabbering at the mouth about stuff that doesn’t have anything to do with the show.

So, I can envision that photo of Farrah with 2 pictures, one in that awesome red swimsuit and the other with her holding her gun and apprehending the bad boys.

And, if the truth be known, this photo is near as provocative as the ones you see on shows these days…just watch Survivor and you will see much more half-dressed women and men running around and some completely naked.

And honestly, you can go to the local pool and see people less dressed than Farrah is here…so put it all in prospective.  That woman is beautiful, there’s not much more to be said about it.  And apparently the photo of Farrah holding a gun on a suspect only exists in my memory but most of you probably have that memory too. 

Coming up…Michael Jackson…

Wow, what a shocker.  I had heard the news of Farrah in the morning while sitting in the doctor’s office.  And, was on my way home was when I was hearing the conflicting reports on Michael Jackson.  And, then people began to fly off and say things like “bad things always come in 3’s”.

I heard Michael Jackson on the radio the rest of my ride home only getting bits an pieces of the news of his death.  At the same time, I was saddened for Farrah’s family.  Her son, in a prison cell (where I am sure he deserved to be if I got the right story) and having to hear that his mom had passed.

I know he was allowed to visit her but I doubt he was with her when she actually died and since the news is all about MJ, not much is being said about this Angel at all.  I now it was expected but that doesn’t make it any less traumatic.

Ryan O’Neal looked so sat in those last interviews with various media icons like Barbara Walters.  I can only imagine the heartache he feel right now.  Death is not easy and the lifestyle that celebrities lead has to make the death even more painful seeing your loved one plastered all over the news. 

Michael Jackson, Farrah Fawcett and Ed McMahon have died in one week  The world is in shock, a terrible terrible shock.  What’s next?  Will you watch the news continuously or will you grow weary quickly?

Over the course of the last few days, I’ve heard the word social media used in many many many places that I never dreamed even possible.  I hear it on commercial on tv, on the radio and you even hear just walking through stores as other people are looking for just the right laptop.

There’s a lot of mumbo jumbo that goes with the words and I’d love to explain it but you know it isn’t as easy to explain as one would think.  If you google it, you might get some ideas but basic google IS social media. 

I started messing around on the internet when Yahoo was all the rage.  I had a Yahoo account, Yahoo email, Yahoo Geocities web pages, you name it, I had it…all bundle with Yahoo. 

I am not real sure when I made the move over to Google but I know I made the move before my computer-gee husband did.  He couldn’t believe I had abandoned my yahoo account.  Google would only give you an email account via invitation for a while.  I got one by having a code sent to my cell phone via text messaging.  And at that time, I had no clue how to use text messaging.

Speaking of that, I was very late in the text game and believe it or not, my geeky husband was even later but now….I can flick off a text message about as fast as you can talk.  But, at first, it was painful.  My phone now is set up like a keyboard and now I can even 2 finger peck faster than most people can actually type.  Sad, but true…

Wait?  Is it sad or is it just technology on the move.