Paula Patton. Image from zimbio.com.
Having seen the movie ‘Precious’ and read the book ‘Push’, I believe that there was no more central character to the rebirth of Precious Jones than Ms. Rain, her primary teacher at her alternative school. Because she worked with young women at educational levels far below their years, Ms. Rain—played phenomenally well by Paula Patton in the movie—had to be tough, fair, demanding, and encouraging all at the same time. With limited resources, she found creative ways to push her young charges to believe that they had anything to offer themselves and society.
Surprisingly, Patton has received no love at all this award season for her portrayal of this pivotal character. To me, Patton had the most challenging role, navigating a myriad of emotions to bring her character to life. At times, Rain was frustrated, disgusted, angry, annoyed, encouraged, discouraged, hopeful, and even overjoyed as she did whatever she could to help the throwaway students that no one else would.
Yes, Gabourey Sidibe had to enter a sad and horrifying place to bring Precious Jones to life, just as Mo’Nique had to channel some dark dark energy to portray Precious’s abusive mother. But for me, no ‘Precious’ actor did a better job than Paula Patton and I am stunned that she has been roundly snubbed by the movie award powers that be.
Images from angelsanddemonsmovie.org and apple.com.
This morning while perusing the channels, I happened upon ”The Early Show: Saturday Edition” on CBS. Morning news is not my normal fare, but host Chris Wragge was so clearly excited about his upcoming segment that I had to stop and see what was making him so visibly giddy.
Apparently, the Apple corporation issued a cryptic invitation last week to selected media outlets: on Wednesday, the company will announce the launch of its latest revolutionary product. Like all other Apples, this new device will undoubtedly create an “Oh-my-God-I’ve-got-to-get-it” frenzy among the tech-savvy people of the world.
Considering the fact that I just purchased my first and only Apple product last summer—an iPod that’s barely larger than a postage-stamp—I know full well that I’m not one of the consumers targeted for this newest, hottest, special-est device. But this morning, as I watched Wragge interview a computer-industry professional about the launch, even I could recognize that the tech behemoth is the best at what it does: creating big buzz for each and every one of its big-ticket luxury gadgets (in this case, the “Tablet”).
So the next time I see two grown men giggling on TV, barely able to sit still because they can’t contain their excitement, I will know that the demons—oops I mean geniuses—at Apple are ready to unleash a new product upon the unsuspecting world.
Image from fruit.com.
Fulfilling a promise to myself, on January 1 I joined Weight Watchers online. I’ve lost 10 pounds so far and am finding the program easy to follow. The primary reason for my success, though, is my mindset: for the first time in years, I *got my mind right* and I know that it’s time to lose the extra weight.
Making up my mind happened gradually over the last few months of 2009. After a tumultuous 2008, my life is very slowly improving. But I have to say that there was a particular event that caused me to admit to myself that, yes, I had indeed gained far too much weight and there was no way to deny the heavy heavy facts.
A few months ago, I purchased a new pack of basic cotton underwear—I bought my usual brand in my usual size. When I attempted to wear the first pair, I was shocked that the elastic was already stretched to breaking and that overall the panties were just too tight. So tight in fact that I promptly took them off in favor of an old worn-in pair.
“Damn economy!” I swore at the time, “Even my underwear is cheap now. Don’t even fit like it used to.” But really, I knew that it was not the economy that had caused the problem. I had gained more weight than I wanted to admit and my panties were telling me so. Right then, the first *mind-rightening* seed was planted.
Happily, I can report that I wore a pair of those new undies today and they fit fine, like they should have in the first place. I share this not to tell all my personal business: I write this to say that if you think you need to lose weight, pay attention to the signs. Some signs cannot be denied: my experience proves that panties do not lie.
L-R: Kim Kardashian & Reggie Bush; Kendra Wilkinson & Hank Baskett. Images from theinsider.com and zimbio.com.
So far in the NFL Playoffs, E! network celebs are 2 for 2.
New Orleans Saints running back Reggie Bush, on-again beau of “Keeping Up with the Kardashians” starlet Kim Kardashian, ran wild on the Arizona Cardinals yesterday, while “Kendra” star Kendra Wilkinson saw hubby Hank Baskett’s Indianapolis Colts beat the Baltimore Ravens.
Network execs at E! are probably salivating at the potential show possibilities should Bush and Baskett face off in the Super Bowl. I can see the 1-hour specials now: “Keeping Up with the Kardashians: Super Ratings at the Super Bowl” or maybe “Kendra: Hank, Baby Hank, and Super Bowl Ring Make 4.”
You might think I’m joking, but if you watch E! as regularly as I do, you should expect a 1-hour “Special Event” in the near future.
Image from target.com.
The last few weeks, I’ve been serenaded at work by a symphony of coughs from almost everyone within a 5-foot radius of my cubicle. ‘Tis the season for colds, flu bugs, and sinus infections and few in my area have remained immune. And with the shaky job climate these days, many workers drag themselves to the office—germs and all—for fear of reprisal and/or dismissal.
Because I don’t want to join The Coughing Choir, I visited Target to invest in a supplement of some sort to help bolster my immune system before it is attacked. I hadn’t been to Target in quite some time and I was quite surprised by the numerous generic versions of popular over-the-counter medications the chain now offers.
I’m sure the dire state of the economy prompted the retail giant to expand its line of generic products, but I am not mad at the significant cost savings. At a time when retailers are looking for new ways to gouge us all the time, I think that Target should be recognized for doing its part to offer high-quality generic products. I can’t speak to the effectiveness of all of the generic medications, but the 2 I purchased (an immune system supplement and ibuprofen) have worked very well. That I paid less than $5 combined for my generics is still astounding to me, and I just had to tell somebody. I wish more retailers and corporations would try a little harder to stretch our dollars a little farther.
My rendering of the offending bookcase.
I started this blog in the summer of 2009, primarily as a way to vent about the horrible conditions at my place of employment which at that time was downsizing. I quickly realized that the environment was bad enough 40 hours a week; I didn’t want to keep rehashing the lunacy by posting it here or anywhere else. I rarely comment on the conditions anymore, but something I saw on a recent trip down a now-vacant hallway necessitated a post.
I work in medical publishing, and over the last several years the bulk of our production work has been *transitioned* to India. Of course, these changes were the brainchild of the top brass in their attempts to cut costs. What I learned in 2009 is that *cost cutting* actually means lost jobs for U.S. workers. The company let go—or “reduced” in their lingo—over half of the staff at my location, and those of us who were retained had to interview for our own jobs. Now less than 100 people work at a location that once employed over 300. It is a stressful, depressing, bad environment, but I must be thankful for it because so many people today don’t even have a bad job to go to anymore.
As I walked the silent hall, I passed a bookcase that I never before noticed. In the past, too many people would have been bustling back and forth for me to see much of anything, but as noted above those days are over. Taped to the back of a shelf on the bookcase was a handwritten sign that read “Work to Chennai,” indicating that the day’s work for India should be placed on that shelf. I seriously had to stop and laugh: this simple sign was a harsh, blunt reminder of why so many of my friends no longer have jobs.
I am determined to have a far more positive attitude in 2010, but I wanted to use this incident as an opportunity to reach out to others:
- If you’re reading this post and you have a job, please pray for someone who doesn’t. If you don’t pray, then consider forwarding any job openings that you hear of to one of the jobless many.
- If you’re reading this post and you don’t have a job, please do not give up hope. It sounds incredibly cliche, but you’ve got to have hope that your situation will get better. Hope is the first thing you need these days as you search.
- Even if you have a job today, do what you can to save money and have your “ducks in a row”; many companies are using the unstable economy to get rid of positions that they really don’t have to. Be prepared.
- Finally, to everyone: as you’re out and about, if you see that a company is hiring or someone mentions a job opening, please make an actual and/or mental note and share that information. The corporate big-wigs have shown that they could not care less about us average Annes and Edwards. It’s up to us to look out for each other.
Image from twitter.com.
In an attempt to mesh my blogs with the latest web technologies, today I created a Twitter account. Two *tweets* in, and I’m already asking myself, “What’s the point?”
I think Twitter has great value for people who send alot of text messages. It might also be an excellent venue for people who think that their friends and family anxiously await news of their latest trip to the grocery store or their most recent change of attire.
Maybe as I get more familiar with the site, I’ll become more comfortable. Right now though, I’m feeling well below the Twitter *average* and, in this case, I’m not at all upset about being in the remedial class. As I’m not a celebrity or a representative of an organization, I find tweeting a bit too narcissistic. There’s no one out there waiting for instant updates on my life, nor should there be. I’m trying to adapt to writing in this new era of instant information, but I might not be able to hang for long with this whole Twitter phenomenon. And this certainly does not bode well for my success in dealing with whatever the next Twitter will be; all I can say is thank goodness for blogs.
L-R: Donny Hathaway, Mariah Carey, Wham! Images from amazon.com.
It’s Christmas Eve and I thought I’d get into the holiday spirit by writing about my favorite Christmas songs. As *salty* as I can sometimes be, even I enjoy the holiday season overall. While this time of year *can* be depressing for some—including myself—for a variety of reasons, there’s no disputing the fact that holiday music can be infectious and uplifting. Here are the 3 songs that never fail to put a smile on my face:
- Mariah Carey’s “All I Want For Christmas Is You”: You don’t have to be a Mariah fan to enjoy this modern-day classic. I can’t make it through the Christmas season without listening to this at least once…a day. Happy, upbeat, heartfelt song.
- Wham!’s “Last Christmas”: I’m a child of the 80’s and I make no secret of my love for 80’s music. Few artists defined the sound of that era better than George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley, also known as Wham! Though widely popular, “Last Christmas” is pretty tame by the group’s standards. Nonetheless, the song’s mellow tones are soothing, relaxing, and comforting all at once.
- Donny Hathaway’s “This Christmas”: Probably the definitive R&B Christmas song, Hathaway’s “This Christmas” is simply timeless, painting a picture through words of a perfect holiday. It’s a shame that R&B just doesn’t sound like this anymore, but that’s a topic for another day…
For me, Christmas is not complete without these 3 songs. If you’re unfamiliar with any or all of them, visit iTunes, amazon.com, or any number of music sites to hear these classics.
UPDATE, 12/25/09: The final 3 groups were Nota—the ultimate winners; Beelzebubs; and Voices of Lee. Even though they weren’t my faves, congrats to Nota on winning the prize money and record deal. I certainly hope that NBC reprises this show because I truly enjoyed it. I will certainly be keeping track of Voices of Lee, The ‘Bubs, and MAXX Factor in the future.
Two episodes into NBC’s a cappella competition The Sing-Off and I’ve got 3 clear-cut favorites:
MAXX Factor. Now I could be biased because these ladies are representing Baltimore so well, but I find the old-school feel of this “barbershop” quartet both new and refreshing. I can’t say that I’ve heard much of this sound at all in my experience, so maybe that’s why Factor seems so distinctive to me. Regardless, I enjoy watching them perform and listening to them harmonize. They come across as professionals in every sense of the word. Today, they sang contemporary songs but didn’t abandon their now-signature sound. I look forward to hearing what they’ve got for us tomorrow. And kudos, ladies, for always being so perfectly dressed and styled.
NOTES: (1) BOOOO on the judges for making the quartet sweat their fate for the 2nd night in a row. As I said in my post below, WHY must the producers insist upon this type of drama?? This group has received consistently high praise, so why take them through the drama 2 nights in a row? That was very low class on the part of the producers, but why should I be surprised? (2) As these ladies are Ravens fans and I also happen to write a Ravens blog, I wrote a post about MAXX Factor there as well; it can be accessed using this link.
Voices of Lee: I have enjoyed all aspects of this group’s performances and have frankly been stunned by the judges’ lack of enthusiasm for them. The group comes across as very faith-driven and clean-cut: I can respect these qualities about Voices the same way I can respect Glambert and his *in-your-faceness*. So far, 3 different members of the 10-person group have had solos and all have been phenomenal.
Beelzebubs: I feel like I’m at a Broadway show when these fellas perform, and I’m no big fan of the theater. I find it fascinating that such a large group of people can sing and perform as seamlessly as they do. I also love the confidence these young men exude. It is clear that they take great pride in being “Bubs”; all “Bubs” alums should be very pleased by their progeny.
Final overall thoughts:
- All images were obtained from The Sing-Off website at www.nbc.com/sing-off/
- If none of these 3 groups is crowned the winner, then I’ll know this thing was fixed from the start. I won’t be able to do anything LOL, but I’ll complain here very loudly.
- It’s obvious that the judges—Ben Folds (Ben Folds Five), Nicole Scherzinger (Pussycat Dolls), and Shawn Stockman (Boyz II Men)—were chosen to be the Simon Cowell, Paula Abdul, and Randy Jackson for the a cappella crowd. I have to say the trio works for me. Nicole can get a little *spazzy* but overall, I think they’ve given some constructive criticism to each group. Not having a musical ear, I don’t know if their comments are warranted, but they are giving insights from their own experiences which I can appreciate.
- I grew up in the 80s and 90s, when the Fat Boys and Doug E. Fresh really made “beatboxing” mainstream; as such, beatboxing is not new to me. I have to say, if I hear one more beatbox on this show I really might scream. Maybe that’s why I like the 3 groups named above so much: these groups have “boxed” sparingly, if at all.
- Did I forget to mention that I loves me some 98 Degrees and Nick Lachey? I’d watch this guy in just about anything.
Image from nbc.com/sing-off/
Last night, The Sing-Off—an a cappella vocal competition—debuted on NBC. I only enjoyed a few of the 8 groups (Baltimore’s own “MAXX Factor,” Lee University’s “Voices of Lee,” and Tufts University’s “The Beelzebubs” were my faves), and I enjoyed many of the contestants’ *sob stories* even less.
Unfortunately for regular viewers, a disturbing trend has emerged in almost all reality programming: the sad tale of woe (the above-mentioned sob story, if you will) meant to tug at the viewers’ heartstrings and elicit sympathy. I can’t speak for anyone else, but I don’t watch reality TV to be sad: I watch to see regular people like me in unusual circumstances or competitions. I like to see how they handle these staged *real* environments and I imagine how I might react in similar conditions. I like to see what people will create whether they are dancing, singing, designing, or cooking; I like to see how people handle—or don’t handle—the pressure of the spotlight.
Reality programming has skyrocketed in popularity since its inception in the early 90s; of late, show producers and executives have decided that only those contestants who have overcome long odds are worthy of airtime. So we viewers must listen to contestants talk about love and loss, heartbreak and despair, joy and pain, and triumph over tragedy before we are allowed to see them perform.
At this point, the stories have been exploited to the point of being predictable: someone will have been homeless or impoverished, someone else will have survived major illness, and still someone else will have been denied a dream based on race, creed, or color. Sometimes you hit the trifecta and an unlucky soul will have experienced all three!
I don’t mean to make light but enough already, reality producers! I watch The Sing-Off—and shows like it—to see contestants showcase their voices—not their tears.
