Thursday, January 29, 2009

The Sex and the City Effect


I have to admit I used to be a big fan of the show. It was pretty good. It shows you a glamorous side of New York City that the average person would not have known existed. Although I liked the show I never wanted to emulate the characters. I am thoroughly entertained walking the streets of NYC seeing young women in my age bracket and beyond trying their best to mimic these characters. They try to mimic everything from wearing high end fashion, to eating Tasti-*- Lite, to drinking Cosmos, screwing every man they can, being a docent, to trying to find every bar or club ever mentioned on the show, they even nick name men in their life after the characters beaus. "OMG, he's so Mr. Big" or "I'm looking for a guy like Aidan". The aforementioned beavhior shall be called the Sex and the City Effect.

The main character I see emulated is Carrie. She was the glue that held the four women together. She's a fashionista, writer, had no problems meeting men (wealthy men), and abreast of all the hip happening things in the city. I'm guessing this is why most women like Carrie. I find Carrie the most annoying out of the four characters. She is so exaggerated and most don't even realize it. She was a writer for some skuzzy gossip magazine which meant she probably made about $50K per year. In middle America or anywhere but a metropolis you can live comfortably with that income. In NYC you can not live on the Upper East Side, dine out everyday, impulsively purchase couture and high end fashion (Manolo Blahniks, Jimmy Choos, Roberto Cavalli, Hermez, Prada, Yves St. Laurent etc...), and participate in NYC nightlife on $50K per year. Yes her apt was rent controlled however, everything else would have had her eating Ramen noodles and shopping off the sale rack at M*cys. In Manhattan dry cleaning a dress cost $8 and up, mani\pedis cost $30+, and the initial cab fare is $2.50, not to mention the places she and the girls dined were moderately priced so in NYC that means about $50 for dinner (appetizer main course and soda). There's no way Carrie could afford the life she lived

Carrie was financially irresponsible, immature, and selfish. There's an episode when her bf moved out and gave her the option to buy her apt or he would keep it and sell it. She had no assets whatsoever. No savings account, checking, retirement funds, stocks, mattress fund.. nothing. She purchased $500 shoes b\c she had to have them. She's immature because she got upset with Charlotte for not offering her the $ for the down payment on her apartment. Her selfishness in relationships and friendships all make her annoying.

The show has warped all these 20 and 30 something women's minds. All these women in the city are suddenly Cosmo drinking, couture wearing, nutty 4inch heel wearing robots. I love my city! But the show only shows how corporate people live in NYC. The average person in NYC can't impulsively buy a $700 bag, dine out everyday, nor cab everywhere. It just doesn't happen like that.

So my question is why has this show become a guide to life for so many 20 and 30 somethings? Why is it that so many women want to model themselves after Carrie in particular? Am I over analyzing the impact of the show?

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Minstrel Man

I just discovered this poem and I though I should share it.
Minstrel Man
By: Langston Hughes

Because my mouth Is wide with laughter
And my throat
Is deep with song,
You do not think I suffer
after I have held my pain So long?
Because my mouth Is wide with laughter,
You do not hear My inner cry?
Because my feet Are gay with dancing,
You do not know I die?

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

400 years in the making




Today January 20,2009 was an AMAZING day! Amazing is an understatement. I can't even think of a word to describe the feeling of the day. The people and the mood was awesome!

With that being said what if everyday in America was like inauguration day? People helped each other. Strangers gave each other water and helped each other hop over barricades. People were friendly. You could just start talking to people and they would respond and were interested in your conversation. There was a sense of community. There was a lady standing near me with a baby and the baby didn't have any gloves or anything to cover his face and people gave the lady a scarf to cover the kid's face and little mittens with the warm packets in them. People were calm and even tempered. It was crowded and people were bumping into each other, in each other's personal space and no one bugged out. It was peaceful. It made me think about the way my grandmother described the way the black community was during Jim Crow in the south.

I've always been proud to be an American, but yesterday I experienced patriotism. I was proud and fell in love with my country. I beamed watching old glory wave and when I heard the Star Spangled Banner. Many people experienced a similar feeling. So my question is, Was yesterday the beginning of a new attitude in America? Can we the American people strive to make everyday like inauguration day?

Monday, January 19, 2009

NOTORIOUS

I went to go see Notorious on Friday and it was a decent flick.

I saw it in Brooklyn of course. Initially I was going to see it where I currently reside but I'm from BK and no other place could or would appreciate such a movie. It was crazy chaos! I heard tickets were selling like hotcakes so me and my homegirl went to the theater at 8 and bought tickets for the midnight show. We came back at 11 and the concession stand lines were crazy long and to top it off there was an ill line to wait to get into the theater.

Ok we're in. The movie was decent. If you know about Biggie then you pretty much knew exactly what was going to happen. The only thing I can really say the movie clarified for me was the beginning of the Biggie Pac beef. The acting was ok. Nobody was amazing or anything like that. However, the chick who played Lil Kim was good. True she was darker, but she really studied Lil Kim. She had her manerisms and flow down pact. The chick who played Faith was wack but she kinda looked like Faith minus about 50lbs. Derek Luger did his thing as Puffy. To me he doesn't look like him too much but he had Puffy down. Remember back when Puff's dumb ass used to shuck\jive\clown and dance in all his artist videos and do his crappy moves? Lugar had it down LMAO!

Overall the movie probably deserves a B\B-due to the some of the corny acting. I'm from Brooklyn so I was going to see it no matter what rating anyone gave it. Shout out to Broooooooooooooooooooooklyn!!

Here's some B.I.G for ya

I got a story to tell- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YfpvpKfR2Ck

Juicy- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OsT8FaZnzdE

Players Anthem- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ueyt2NQeVxM

Friday, January 16, 2009

Teefs


This will be a short post. I never realized I have Oral Hygiene OCD. People please take care of your mouth! It is one of the first things people see when they meet you. A new co-worker completely grossed me out yesterday. She introduced herself and then smiled and I stared at her teeth in shock. This woman had a thick coat of plaque on her teeth and a few extra teeth. I couldn't stop looking at it (this pic is a pretty accurate depiction of the woman's teeth). I wanted to take my finger and start scraping the plaque off. EWWWWW! To make matters worse she bought orange soda from the vending machine drank it and her teeth were stained by the coloring in the soda. EWWW! If your teeth are so plaque ridden that coloring from food sticks to your teeth you shouldn't be out in public! Plaque is something you can control.


I realize people are human and everyone has imperfections, but correct whatever oral errors you have. Work an extra job and get your mouth fixed one tooth at a time. People please brush and floss 2x a day. EVERYDAY! See a dentist twice a year. If you don't have insurance brush 3x a day and minimize your sugar intake. That's all

Monday, January 12, 2009

Broke Friends


Friday night me and a few friends decided to go to happy hour and just see where the night takes us. One of the friends lets call her "Helen" asks can her homeboy "John" come. I give that "no heifer" smile and say it doesn't matter. I've hung out with John before; he's pretty fun but he ain't got no job (I realize the poor grammar but it must be said this way).


I said doesn't matter because I figured its a new year maybe his financial status has changed and everyone deserves a second wait third chance. Me and my posse are not high rollers but when we go out we like to have fun. We go to happy hour dinner and then bar\club hop and take cabs to do so. When in the club or bar everyone will buy a round of drinks except take a guess... John. This ninja ain't pay for a got dam thang! At happy hour everyone was buying rounds (mind you he never refused a drink and was ordering top shelf liquor) and he "disappeared when it was his turn. Ok I let it slide. Went to a lounge homie continues making drink requests but never so much as tips the bartender... Satya let it slide. Finally at dinner the check came and I was including the tip and dividing it by 5 and then Helen said we'll divide it by 4. PAUSE wtf. This negro ate an appetizer, entree, side dishes (a la carte), and friggin dessert and i'm supposed to contribute to paying for it NEGATIVE.


I grab Helen and we go to bathroom to discuss the issue. This heifer has the nerve to tell me "Btw i'm a little low on cash so can you pay half of my share of the tab". I laughed and went back to the table. Normally I only have about $20 in my wallet but Friday I had cash. I put my $65 in the checkbook and everyone else paid in cash as well. (Helen is still in the bathroom while this is occurring). All of us get our things and tell John he and Helen can meet us outside. Helen came out and was ready to go but the server informs her that the check is $130 short.


Is it wrong that I stood outside and ignored her phone calls. How the hell do you suggest going out knowing you're broke? Not only that, she selected the restaurant and decided to invite her notoriously broke friend. As adults I don't find such behavior acceptable. Especially because this scene was a repeat. I think Friday taught her conflict resolution and commandment 11, "Thou shall not go out when ye are broke. Nor shall ye invite bum ass friends when your pockets are like rabbit ears".Perhaps I was wrong. Let me know

Thursday, January 8, 2009

Lebanon

Interesting read in the wee hours of the morning. Lebanon felt froggy and they leapt.
I think it's time the U.S. to put more pressure on Israel for a cease-fire. Yes, Israel does absolutely have the right to defend itself from attacks. However, if it were the reverse and 688 of them had been killed in battle I think the international community would have responded by now. I think if a certain country threatened to withdraw financial and military aid from a certain unofficial self governing territory a cease-fire agreement would be make with all deliberate speed. But anyway it seems this is one topics that American can't discuss freely otherwise they'll be labelled a naughty name. This post isn't the most concise but when writing about such a topic you must be.

More on the story here: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090108/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_israel_palestinians

Tuesday, January 6, 2009

House of Saddam

Happy New Year all!!

I spent all day Sunday at home as I am sick. While at home I watched the four part HBO BBC series "House of Saddam". It was pretty good overall but had several inaccuracies and definitely has a western slant.

The movie kind of had a soap opera t.v. drama kind of undertone to it. The movie begins with with the birthday celebration of his daughter Hala and then goes on to show him become president of Iraq. We see some drama some killings yada ya. Then the next part shows Saddam ready to wage war with Iran after the Iranian Revolution. They show the cartoons and various types of propaganda Saddam used to promote the Iraq Iran war. But, one huge factor left out was that the U.S. supported Iraq during the war. The U.S. sold Iraq military equipment. Looking at the Iraq Iran war there is no way Iraq could have fought as long as it did against Iran. At the time of the war Iran had the 5th largest standing army in the world and Iraq... well lets just say they didn't even make the top 15. Gee I wonder why American military aid wasn't shown in the movie.

I think the movie didn't show Iraq at its high time in the 70s and 80s. Iraq was a country on the come up at that time. It was actually quite modern. Not at all saying that I agreed with Saddam and his approach to governing but Iraq had good infrastructure and was revamping the school system to battle the high illiteracy rates. Yes Saddam was erratic and a dictator but, he did some good things for the country. In part 3 of the movie it shows President George H.W. Bush giving his speech about Iraq withdrawing from Kuwait and then shows Desert Storm. We see the bombs drop and the fire but the audience never sees the real damage. When Desert Storm occurred I'm sure General LeMay was proud we bombed Iraq into the stone age. The images we currently see of Iraq is not the place it once was. Desert Storm shook the country down.

The soap opera part come with the drama with the daughters husbands. Basically they are top advisors in Saddam's regime and betray him and he eventually has him killed and the daughters are upset about it. Actually Hala's husband surrendered to the coalition forces in 2003. What was this drama for? This is not supposed to be the Sopranos

The mini-series was okay overall. But, I don't think the average person would understand the series. To really understand Desert Storm you need to know a little about the history of the Middle East. Like when Saddam says "to the party" my homeboy was like what party? The Ba'thist party. I could critique the movie on several other points but ahh why go there. I just had to point out the Western slant. One could easily argue this series is a propaganda piece. Any who... I'm back will be here sharing my thoughts