Local Fox station WNYW took a good, hard, humorous look at itself - and the local news industry, as a whole - last night during their 10 p.m. broadcast when reporter Joel Waldman covered the story we've been waiting forever to see: What's annoying about local news?
I could personally write a list a mile long about the things that annoy me about local news, but that would be just like having a 3 minute stand-up for a 30 second story, so I'm just going to get to the point and post Joel's video ... and let you take a look for yourself.
(Ugh ... for some reason the embed code is not working with me ... See the video here until I figure this out).
So, there you have it, folks. The secret is out. The people who work in local news actually know that some of the things they do are gratuitous and annoying ... and simply for ratings ... But, when it comes down to it, who doesn't like to see puppies cuddling with babies and reporters in the rain (Oh Jimmy).
Time's gonna make you a man someday and you won't want to go out and play with your friends, you'll just sit at home and watch the news at ten and the pubs will be closed and you won't have been with your friends ... (News At Ten, The Vapors)
You turn the ripe old age of 15 today ... and despite being stuck dead in the middle of your teenage years and having been the most popular kid in the class for the past few years, you have not turned around and started to curse out your users or to try new styles ... You consistently do what you do best - search out the answers to our hard pressed questions that we need to know immediately.
I am not sure about everyone else on this little planet called Earth who have made use of your intelligence but I will be celebrating this auspicious day - your quincenera, if you will - by utilizing your skills for the betterment of myself. I will Google my own name, stalk cute guys I work with (or who work at Starbucks ... or who I meet on the subway ... or who I just happen to get a business card from in random situations on any given day), and figure out if Lindsay Lohan has attended her scheduled court dates for the current month. Because we all know this information is critical and that you know best!
Hell, if I'm ever unsure if a dude is right for me, I'm game with getting your advice on that too! And other people should be too! "Will this relationship work out?" ... "Is my hair too red?" ... "How do chickens reproduce?" ... "Why does my butt hurt?" ... All acceptable questions for you, my young friend. No question is too strange or inappropriate. And I love that about you.
Thank you for your years of answers, Google.
Love,
Nazzle Dazzle
I'm in love with Google Plus. I'm judgmental on Google Plus. Here's another douchebag and another loser that didn't make my Google Plus! (The Google+ Song, Kayla Sarian)
... And, no, I'm not referring to the sexy kind of texting. I mean full-blown relationships ... that just happen to exist via text message. Is it possible for two people to become so close via text message that it almost feels as though that they are in a relationship?
I am beginning to think that this phenomenon is becoming more and more common in today's social media obsessed, technological world. It's scary to think that people are unaware that they are falling into the trap of the "textlationship" ... So here are some signs that YOU may be in a textlationship and not even know it!
5 Signs You May Be In A Textlationship
1) You met a nice gal or guy, exchanged numbers, then proceeded to flirt, get to know each other, even maybe express love for each other ... all via text ... with continuous promises of meeting up ... straight through your breakup, which inevitably happened via text.
2) You find yourself irritated when your "significant other" does not text you back after several hours ... However, you have not seen said person in weeks and/or months.
3) You know all the essential first-date facts, as well as tons of other info, about your texting partner ... without ever actually having gone on a date.
4) You love telling all your friends about your partner ... but in order to do so, you need to bust out your cell phone to recap a conversation or a funny anecdote involving said person.
5) You've escalated your textlationship to a sextlationship in hopes that an actual relationship would ensue but, alas, the texts just keep coming ... and the dates don't.
And there you have it ... If any of these five signs apply to you, do yourself a favor, if you genuinely care about the person you are texting, talk to them. NOT TEXT. TALK - face to face - about how you feel. And if they don't understand or reciprocate the feelings and the texts just keep coming, go ahead and click delete!
Gonna find me somebody not afraid to let go. Want a no doubt, be there kind of man. You came real close. But every time you built me up. You only let me down. And everybody knows, almost doesn't count. (Almost Doesn't Count, Brandy)
You know all those times you wished you could have clicked those hashtags that your Facebook #friends placed in their status updates ... But then realized it was a useless dream because it was not a tweet or an Instagram photo ... Well, #thetimeishere.
FACEBOOK IS INTRODUCING #hashtags!
Photo c/o www.enveritasgroup.com
(Yes, I just hashtagged hashtag. I'm so #aboutthatlife.)
So, get ready to stalk celebrities easier (#zaynmailk, anyone?), laugh at strangers for hours on end (#drunkdancing), and cry just because you need to (#nicholassparks).
I have not (::read as never::) been this excited for a Facebook update since they introduced the like button. And, if you are not excited ... I can't comprehend why or how you are using social media. You are clearly using it incorrectly.
I actually don't even see why you are still reading this ... Go get on Facebook and update your status with an appropriately placed hashtag (yes, there are rules ... You can't just place them anywhere!) and begin clicking your day away!
#havefun!
Can't you see it's we who own the night. Can't you see it's we who 'bout that life. And we can't stop. And we won't stop. We run things, things don't run we, we don't take nothing from nobody. (We Can't Stop, Miley Cyrus)
You don't need superhuman powers like X-Ray vision or gamma-radiation-inundated strength to give yourself a monthly self-breast exam ...
At least that is what a new advertising campaign out of South Africa is trying to tell you! The new campaign by Associação da Luta Contra o Cancer features four ads - each with a different girl super hero, drawn from their chin down to their mid-torso, feeling up her boobies for lumps!
The lucky ladies which are featured in these ads (suggested by their artfully rendered uniforms, of course) are ... Catwoman, She-Hulk, Wonder Woman, and Storm (of X-Men fame for you non-nerdy people, out there).
The ads also all feature a comic-book looking caption that reads: Nobody's Immune To Breast Cancer.
It goes on to say: When we talk about breast cancer, there’s no women or superwomen. Everybody has to do the self-examination monthly. Fight with us against this enemy and, when in doubt, talk with your doctor.
I would suggest clipping your nails before a monthly self-exam.
She-Hulk is Hella-Endowed. Just saying.
Leather and all that super hero clothing is cool ...
But I would suggest any type of metal be removed before a monthly exam.
Storm could totally donate her hair to women with cancer.
I love this ad campaign. It not only has a positive message outwardly ... But it also has another message in the imagery ... These super hero women are all women who prevent crises from occurring on an everyday basis based on the actions they choose to do --- I mean let's face it, no one's forcing them to save the world. By choosing to perform breast self-exams, you are choosing to take a preventative step against cancer. You are choosing to check yourself for lumps and bumps and funniness and to report it to a doctor when you find it. Basically, you are being your own super hero. To yourself. To your friends. To your family. To all your loved ones. So, please do me a favor, ladies ... And gentlemen ... Go ahead - be my hero and go touch your boobies ... Just not at Happy Hour like this song suggests ... It won't end well. Trust me.
There's boobies of all different kinds but do you know the warning signs!? I touch my boobies for any strange lumps. I touch my boobies for any weird bumps. Touching is key to being lumpy free. So, please touch your boobies, touch your boobies, for me![Touch Your Boobies (I Touch Mine!) - Taryn Southern]
Side Note: If you have discovered a lump or have any other signs of breast cancer, visit your doctor right away. You can access information about the disease here. If you would like to donate to breast cancer research, you can do so here. Or, if you have some long tresses you are willing to donate in order to have wigs made for those who have been affected by cancer, check out Pantene Pro-V's Beautiful Lengths Program (I'll post my before and after pictures next month!).
This week I have just been slapped in the face with media representation issues ... and since it's kind of my thing ... I guess I should probably say a little something (or more than a little something) about one of the giant problems that lie within the media.
I recently attended the National Communication Association Conference in New Orleans and attended a seminar about magazines. One of the speakers mentioned that the current stats say that 68 million women read magazines each month without fail.
This statistic scares me considering what I have observed about the messages that magazines (and media in general) send to its female consumers - and males too in certain cases, just to be fair! Just in scanning through a few of the more popular women's magazines, you notice what the media considers the "perfect" and "ideal" woman - both in the pages of its content and in its advertisements. For example, in the most current issue of Cosmopolitan magazine, there are 62 ads which feature front-facing females. Only one of those women are depicted as having a position of power (I think it was an Orajel ad) and from what I can remember counting - only 20-somewhat ads featured women of color. None featured plus-size women.
What is Cosmopolitan telling women about themselves simply through the ads they choose to accept and run, let alone through their actual content? (By the way, all that counting was done for preliminary research for possible thesis topics! ... OH YEAH. I can never get away from grad school which is why I have been so MIA on the blog posts lately).
Considering the state of the media today and the ways in which it is treating its women, we are the only ones who can change it. We need to stand up to the media (and the fashion industry - we can't forget them!) and say that we aren't scared of not seeing size 0 models on our runways and in our magazines. We need to see more women of color and of differing body types on our TV stations. We also need to be the ones working in the media. Today I was appalled to hear someone make a bulimia joke in a media setting and I didn't even know what to say as I was so shocked - especially when you consider the facts like the ones presented here:
All those facts should stir a little something in you to want to make a change, and even if that change is just a personal one to accept yourself and give yourself a little slack when you look in the mirror and to love yourself for who you are ... then that's enough. But if it stirs a little more in you to make more changes like contacting fashion designers and magazine publishers/editors, then more power to you! Hopefully we can help change the world before a new generation of girls are hurt by the media messages they are fed every day.
I want to be beautiful. Make you stand in awe. Look inside my heart and be amazed. I want to hear you say who I am is quite enough. Just want to be worthy of love and beautiful. Sometimes I wish I was someone other than me, fighting to make the mirror happy - trying to find whatever is missing. Won't you help me back to glory. (Beautiful, Bethany Dillon)
I went to a lecture this week by Peter Maass called "Seeing Revolution: The Altered Image of War in New and Old Media." I found it an extremely talk considering the fact that last year for one of my classes, I wrote a paper touching on many of the same topics on which Maass spoke. My paper was called Revolution in the Middle East and the Impact of History vs. Social Media. Maass spoke about the technical aspects of how images of war have changed in the past years - for example the types of cameras and mics that were used by journalists when reporting on the Bosnian War vs. the wars of today. What I was most interested in, however, was the idea of the rise of the civilian journalist.
Even back in the 90's, the people of Bosnia could not tweet or facebook about the horrors of what they were facing ... But today, we see in places like Egypt and Iran, hundreds of people taking to the streets for what are called "Facebook Revolutions" and "Twitter Revolutions." People all over the world are seeing the images and words that are being posted by these everyday journalists and are also getting on board.
Our mainstream media are quick to dub the revolutions that happen around the world with catchy names like the "Wikileaks Revolution" in Tunisia and the "Facebook Revolution" in Egypt, and stream youtube videos posted by civilian journalist and use that as news, however, they often neglect the deeper issues at hand when it comes to war and revolution. And, they are the ones that need to be focusing and bringing to light the deeper issues at hand, because mainstream media are where most people go for their news.
The truth of the matter is that every country that has a revolution has a long and, probably, convoluted history involving deception, take-over, lies, and killings. When writing my paper, I just focused on the most recent revolutions in Tunisia, Egypt, and Iran, and just the histories of those countries - simply going back to the late 19th century and forward - had long-stretches dark histories. These histories cannot be ignored. Mainstream journalists cannot just choose one of these:
And assume they have enough information to go on when describing a revolution. It's a revolution for goodness sake. People are clamoring to make change. They are clearing angry about something, and that pent up anger is not over one spilled cup of tea - it's over years and years of water boiling out of a pot over the people.
Don't look back. Keep your head held high. Don't ask them why because life is short and before you know you're feeling old and your heart is breaking. Don't hold onto the past. Well, that's too much to ask. (This Used To Be My Playground, Madonna)
Not lonely or sad at all ... I think this is the guy's equivalent to the girl's fake engagement ring or the equivalent to the pretend phone call in public for avoidance purposes. I can think of a slew of situations where this piece of genius can be put to good use ...
1) You're out and about, trying to have a good 'ole time with the guys or whatever ... and a girl comes along that you are just not feeling ...
BUT being the gentleman that I know you are, you don't want to hurt her feelings soooo what do you do? ... You pull out your handy-dandy cell phone, text "Rebecca," and tell the poor girl you're talking to, that your girlfriend Rebecca would not appreciate you hanging all night with her. This saves you both a lot of time.
2) You are walking along and all of a sudden, in the distance, you see that jerk from high school - that one person who you swore you would never cross paths with again after graduation day ... But there's nowhere to go ... No time to do this and hide ...
So, get the phone out ... send that initial text message ... and then when you bump into that jerk and you need to have that awkward encounter, at least it's cut short by "Tina" who will call you and tell you that you immediately need to come meet her at the mall because she needs help picking out a dress for the wedding you guys are attending next weekend. Oh yeahhhhh. It's that serious. Time to go.
3) And, it can even be used for it's actual purpose ... but not because you're sad and lonely ... because you have annoying and meddling relatives who are always, "When are you going to settle down with a nice [fill in with appropriate meddling adjective here] girl? We'll die before we have grand kids [or nieces/nephews/god-children]."
Now you can just text and call your air hostess girlfriend "Megha" whenever you need to get your parents out of your hair ... When they want to meet her, she's in flight, DUH.
And there you go ... Just some of the reasons why this service was a stroke of genius on someones part ...
And, yes, I am sure there are some guys out there who are just lonely and are like, "I want a fake girlfriend to send me messages all day long and I'll call her and message her and ... blah blah blah" but then those end up being the guys who come out and make all girls want to wear fake engagement rings to every restaurant and party they attend ... Or the ones who end up being the inspiration for episodes of "Criminal Minds" or "Strange Addiction."
But besides those guys ... I give this idea a thumbs up because it can be used to get you out of many awkward encounters and strained conversations ... so use it to your advantage.
Ohhh, I wish you could meet my girlfriend, my girlfriend who lives in Canada. She couldn't be sweeter. I wish you could meet her - my girlfriend who lives in Canada. Her name is Alberta. She lives in Vancouver. She cooks like my mother, and sucks like a Hoover. I email her every single day just to make sure that every thing's okay. It's a pity she lives so far away - in Canada! (My Girlfriend Who Lives In Canada, Avenue Q Soundtrack)
I was walking along today and you want to know what I saw?
A little bit of this.
And a little bit of that ...
And a few cases of this ...
People are consistently cutting themselves off from the world around them. They are disconnected and far off from humanity. It may be because people are increasingly more wary of society, in general ... Or maybe it's just because people have lost the ability to interact with each other --- at least in the face-to-face context because we all know that we are plenty connected via our cell phones and our email and our Facebooks! Heck, I know some people who talk to each other more via their xBox consoles than they do in person ... and it makes me kind of sad to know that.
Face-to-Face interaction is an important part of development for children and teens, as well as an important part of life for adults. We all need human contact and when we are walking around consistently cut off, with our headphones in and our cell phones on, we are not getting the chance to interact with people. I was walking to a new gym the other day (or let's say trying to get to the gym) because I couldn't find my way ... and there was basically nothing I could do. I WANTED to ask directions from someone along the way but I literally passed by three or four people who were making themselves unavailable to outsiders.
And then we all wonder why so many people are complaining about loneliness ... Well, maybe it's because we don't know how to meet people. I heard about one girl who went running every night with her iPod and the one night she forgot it, she stopped to look out on the waterfront, and it just so happened that a guy stopped too. They started talking and ....... No, sorry, no fairytale ending, but still ... At least they started talking and they were interacting with each other and they went out a few times.
Meeting people. Going out. Living life. That's what it's all about. That's what we need to be doing. We need to interact with each other to learn about each other. That's how we will grow as a country and as a nation. That's how we will learn to accept differences and make changes that need to be made. And to think it can all start with taking out the dang ear buds for a few minutes a day!
It's been awhile. I know I shouldn't have kept you waiting but I'm here now ... Oh, looks like we're alone now. You ain't gotta be scared, we're grown now. I'ma hit defrost on you. Let's get it blazin'. We can turn the heat up if you wanna. Turn the lights down low if you wanna. Just wanna move you but you're frozen. That's what I'm saying - Let me break the ice! (Break The Ice, Britney Spears)
