Da Bulls
Am I crazy, or have the Bulls actually won 5 games in a row?
Wednesday, December 22, 2004
Monday, December 20, 2004
Eminem
The first time I ever heard of Eminem was during my first year of college, when MTV started playing his "My Name Is" video. The song was catchy in a retarded sort of way, and the video was funny, so I became a fan. Back then, it seemed like I was the only one, everyone else thought I was nuts for liking it.
Not that I blame them, cause you gotta admit, both the song and the video were pretty ridiculous. First off, it's this skinny white guy rapping in a high voice, to a beat that sounds like it belonged in an 8-bit Nintendo game. In the song, he's talking about impregnating Spice Girls, his mom doing drugs, and stapling his junior high teacher's nuts to a stack of papers. The video shows him in all these random situations, dressed up as Bill Clinton in one scene and then Marilyn Manson the next. And there was also the cameos by Gheorghe Muresan and Dr. Dre, which made absolutely no sense at the time. I mean, who the heck was this guy anyways and where did he come from?
Obviously, a lot has changed since then. Unless you live in a cave, you know that Eminem has become one of the biggest if not the biggest star in the music scene. Controversial among older people, but almost universally admired by anyone under the age of 30 - male or female, white or black (or yellow), it didn't matter. Every radio station plays his songs, and it seems like people can't get enough of him. These days Eminem is cool, he's hot, he's talented, and he can do no wrong.
For me, I guess my opinion of him went in the opposite direction as everyone else in this country. Yeah, I liked him in those early days, and continued to listen to his music while he was getting blasted by the media, liked a couple of his CDs enough to buy them, went to see his movie when it came out, and I still like some of his stuff.
But after listening to his latest CD (Encore) for a month or so, I'd have to say that I'm really Eminem-ed out. I'm sick of him, I don't enjoy his music or his videos as much, and I'd go as far as to say that some of it actually irritates me now.
Some of it is probably just overexposure, but one thing that bothers me is how he keeps trying to make himself look good by talking about his daughter. At first maybe it was nice to mention Hailie in his interviews or even dedicate a song to her on his CD. But now it's like he's just flat out using her name to promote his image.
In his latest song to her, "Mockingbird", he starts by saying:
"Hailie, I know you miss your mom
and I know you miss your dad
Well I'm gone
But I'm trying to give you
The life I never had"
It's not like he's a blue collar worker trying to grind out a living, never able to be at home because he needs to work 2 jobs to support his family. He makes it sound like he wishes he could spend more time with his daughter, if only he didn't need to work all the time to provide provide for her. As if the millions he has already made isn't enough in itself to give her a more comfortable life than any of us can imagine. If you choose to spend more time on your rap than on your daughter, fine that's your decision, but at least don't make it seem like you're doing it all for her sake. You're not.
Later on in the song he goes:
"all I ever wanted to do
was just make you proud"
More BS. What daughter wouldn't be proud of a dad who raps about all of his family's dirty laundry for the rest of the world to hear? I know I would love for everyone to know exactly how my mother is a psycho bitch, my grandmother is a psycho bitch, and how my dad wanted to kill them both. And every time I get to see one of his videos on TV, where he's either dressed up like Pee Wee Herman or streaking naked through the streets, I would be so beaming with pride.
It's not that I necessarily fault him for rapping about his most personal thoughts and private issues. And if he wants to continue pushing the boundaries of decency in his music videos, that's his decision, not mine. He could have a lot of motives for the things he does; maybe he legitimately wants to express himself artistically, maybe he's doing it all to get revenge on people, maybe he likes the attention and glory, or maybe he just wants to sell some records. But there's no way anyone could ever argue that Eminem is a man driven by a desire to make his daughter proud.
Then there's the song "Like Toy Soldiers", where he talks about all the battles and rivalries he's gone through in the rap world. I still like the song, but he could not possibly sound more self-serving in the lyrics. First of all, the guy is 32 years old now, when is he going to grow up and stop acting like he's in high school? And then, he again brings up Hailie as a convenient excuse to battle Ja. Are we really supposed to believe that Eminem wanted so bad to be the bigger man and ignore the battle, except for the one fact that the other guy mentioned his daughter's name in a song? Even if what he says is true, what's his point? Wow, what a saint he must be, let's all worship him now!
He also talks a little about having to sit back and stay out of Dr. Dre's beef with Suge Knight in the song. Who exactly does he think he is? If Dr. Dre can't handle his own business, you think he really needs help from Eminem, to protect him from Suge Knight of all people? I can't imagine Suge Knight really ever feeling threatened by anyone in the rap world, least of all Eminem, yet here he is, talking like some sort of bigshot thug kingpin that rules the streets. Whigga please.
One other thing about the song, I remember not too long ago Kellen Winslow Jr. got blasted by the media for comparing himself to a soldier. I know Eminem's song is titled "Toy Soldiers" but that's only the chorus, in the rest of the song and in past songs he talks a lot about being a soldier. I'm not so so sure that a college football player calling himself a soldier is much worse than a rapper doing the same, but I don't see anywhere near the outrage against Eminem than we saw for Kellen Winslow. It could just be the timing, but I found that to be interesting.
I think the thing that bothers me most is how his videos are marketed so much to kids. At first I figured, maybe his videos just happen to be colorful, so we should just give him the benefit of the doubt. But by now, it's become pretty obvious that he's trying to sell more CD's to little kids. Almost all of his major videos are so cartoony (actually the recent one for "Mosh" was an actual animated cartoon), and in the "Just Lose It" video he even features little kids dancing. It doesn't get much more obvious than that. I mean, it's one thing to make songs filled with obscenities and "adult" topics, but marketing that same music to kids is just wrong. I'd call him shady for doing that, but I guess he already calls himself that. Darn.
*****
In financial news, shares of Symantec Co. dropped 6% on the stock market today. Experts blame the fall on its recent deal to buy Veritas Software, but I'm sure readers of this blog know better. The real story is that my 11/11/04 entry that I wrote to bash their Norton AntiVirus product finally made its impact on shareholders.
Let this be a warning to all of you large corporations out there - better be nice to me or else you may suffer a similar fate. At the moment, Urban Outfitters is getting dangerously close to making it on my blacklist, but we'll have to see about that.
The first time I ever heard of Eminem was during my first year of college, when MTV started playing his "My Name Is" video. The song was catchy in a retarded sort of way, and the video was funny, so I became a fan. Back then, it seemed like I was the only one, everyone else thought I was nuts for liking it.
Not that I blame them, cause you gotta admit, both the song and the video were pretty ridiculous. First off, it's this skinny white guy rapping in a high voice, to a beat that sounds like it belonged in an 8-bit Nintendo game. In the song, he's talking about impregnating Spice Girls, his mom doing drugs, and stapling his junior high teacher's nuts to a stack of papers. The video shows him in all these random situations, dressed up as Bill Clinton in one scene and then Marilyn Manson the next. And there was also the cameos by Gheorghe Muresan and Dr. Dre, which made absolutely no sense at the time. I mean, who the heck was this guy anyways and where did he come from?
Obviously, a lot has changed since then. Unless you live in a cave, you know that Eminem has become one of the biggest if not the biggest star in the music scene. Controversial among older people, but almost universally admired by anyone under the age of 30 - male or female, white or black (or yellow), it didn't matter. Every radio station plays his songs, and it seems like people can't get enough of him. These days Eminem is cool, he's hot, he's talented, and he can do no wrong.
For me, I guess my opinion of him went in the opposite direction as everyone else in this country. Yeah, I liked him in those early days, and continued to listen to his music while he was getting blasted by the media, liked a couple of his CDs enough to buy them, went to see his movie when it came out, and I still like some of his stuff.
But after listening to his latest CD (Encore) for a month or so, I'd have to say that I'm really Eminem-ed out. I'm sick of him, I don't enjoy his music or his videos as much, and I'd go as far as to say that some of it actually irritates me now.
Some of it is probably just overexposure, but one thing that bothers me is how he keeps trying to make himself look good by talking about his daughter. At first maybe it was nice to mention Hailie in his interviews or even dedicate a song to her on his CD. But now it's like he's just flat out using her name to promote his image.
In his latest song to her, "Mockingbird", he starts by saying:
"Hailie, I know you miss your mom
and I know you miss your dad
Well I'm gone
But I'm trying to give you
The life I never had"
It's not like he's a blue collar worker trying to grind out a living, never able to be at home because he needs to work 2 jobs to support his family. He makes it sound like he wishes he could spend more time with his daughter, if only he didn't need to work all the time to provide provide for her. As if the millions he has already made isn't enough in itself to give her a more comfortable life than any of us can imagine. If you choose to spend more time on your rap than on your daughter, fine that's your decision, but at least don't make it seem like you're doing it all for her sake. You're not.
Later on in the song he goes:
"all I ever wanted to do
was just make you proud"
More BS. What daughter wouldn't be proud of a dad who raps about all of his family's dirty laundry for the rest of the world to hear? I know I would love for everyone to know exactly how my mother is a psycho bitch, my grandmother is a psycho bitch, and how my dad wanted to kill them both. And every time I get to see one of his videos on TV, where he's either dressed up like Pee Wee Herman or streaking naked through the streets, I would be so beaming with pride.
It's not that I necessarily fault him for rapping about his most personal thoughts and private issues. And if he wants to continue pushing the boundaries of decency in his music videos, that's his decision, not mine. He could have a lot of motives for the things he does; maybe he legitimately wants to express himself artistically, maybe he's doing it all to get revenge on people, maybe he likes the attention and glory, or maybe he just wants to sell some records. But there's no way anyone could ever argue that Eminem is a man driven by a desire to make his daughter proud.
Then there's the song "Like Toy Soldiers", where he talks about all the battles and rivalries he's gone through in the rap world. I still like the song, but he could not possibly sound more self-serving in the lyrics. First of all, the guy is 32 years old now, when is he going to grow up and stop acting like he's in high school? And then, he again brings up Hailie as a convenient excuse to battle Ja. Are we really supposed to believe that Eminem wanted so bad to be the bigger man and ignore the battle, except for the one fact that the other guy mentioned his daughter's name in a song? Even if what he says is true, what's his point? Wow, what a saint he must be, let's all worship him now!
He also talks a little about having to sit back and stay out of Dr. Dre's beef with Suge Knight in the song. Who exactly does he think he is? If Dr. Dre can't handle his own business, you think he really needs help from Eminem, to protect him from Suge Knight of all people? I can't imagine Suge Knight really ever feeling threatened by anyone in the rap world, least of all Eminem, yet here he is, talking like some sort of bigshot thug kingpin that rules the streets. Whigga please.
One other thing about the song, I remember not too long ago Kellen Winslow Jr. got blasted by the media for comparing himself to a soldier. I know Eminem's song is titled "Toy Soldiers" but that's only the chorus, in the rest of the song and in past songs he talks a lot about being a soldier. I'm not so so sure that a college football player calling himself a soldier is much worse than a rapper doing the same, but I don't see anywhere near the outrage against Eminem than we saw for Kellen Winslow. It could just be the timing, but I found that to be interesting.
I think the thing that bothers me most is how his videos are marketed so much to kids. At first I figured, maybe his videos just happen to be colorful, so we should just give him the benefit of the doubt. But by now, it's become pretty obvious that he's trying to sell more CD's to little kids. Almost all of his major videos are so cartoony (actually the recent one for "Mosh" was an actual animated cartoon), and in the "Just Lose It" video he even features little kids dancing. It doesn't get much more obvious than that. I mean, it's one thing to make songs filled with obscenities and "adult" topics, but marketing that same music to kids is just wrong. I'd call him shady for doing that, but I guess he already calls himself that. Darn.
*****
In financial news, shares of Symantec Co. dropped 6% on the stock market today. Experts blame the fall on its recent deal to buy Veritas Software, but I'm sure readers of this blog know better. The real story is that my 11/11/04 entry that I wrote to bash their Norton AntiVirus product finally made its impact on shareholders.
Let this be a warning to all of you large corporations out there - better be nice to me or else you may suffer a similar fate. At the moment, Urban Outfitters is getting dangerously close to making it on my blacklist, but we'll have to see about that.
Thursday, December 09, 2004
Laguna Biatch
I'm not sure if I have mentioned this before in my blog, but Laguna Beach is an awesome show. I know I always rip on trashy "reality TV" and stuff, but then I somehow always end up watching these shows anyways and find myself enjoying them.
I guess I'm not really sure why I liked this show so much. Olivia says "you just like it cause you think Kristin's hot", which she is, but that's only a small part of it, honestly. You gotta admit Kristin is pretty good looking, even though she's still just a high school girl. Not like I'm worshipping her as a goddess and drooling over her beauty as I'm watching the show, or anything like that. She's definitely not hot enough to make me watch a show purely based on hotness. The only examples I can think of that fit that category were Jessica Alba in Dark Angel, and currently maybe that dark-haired Desperate Housewife (Eva Langoria?). Even that one is questionable, she looked a little overrated in the last couple episodes I saw.
As far as Laguna Beach goes, people say it has no plot, and what's the point of watching, but they clearly don't understand the show. That's what I thought at first too. Who wants to watch a bunch of spoiled rich white high schoolers? If we can't stand them when they're being annoying at the movie theater or at the mall, why would we enjoy a "reality" show about them?
But after watching a few episodes, I realized that even though these are exactly the kids we all hate, their lives are actually still very interesting. It's all the stuff I never went through in my own high school experience - the girls, the drama, golfing, surfing, and hanging out at the beach. Am I envious of their lives? Maybe about some things, but overall, no not really. It's mostly just entertaining and interesting to watch.
And I couldn't disagree more about the show having no plot. It's about a bunch of high school seniors going through their last year in Laguna Beach before they all head off in different directions. At the center of it is LC, and the love triangle between her, Steven, and Kristin. There were other subplots too, but this was by far the most captivating storyline and probably the main reason I kept watching. How much more of a plot do you need anyways?
The thing is, it's not like I even liked any of the characters. Most of the girls were dumb, and the guys were tools, which I figured they would be anyways. Kristin, for all her attractiveness, was pretty freaking annoying and wasted her looks by being too much of a hoe. Steven, while you gotta give him props for being a stud (by high school standards), was too big of a whiner at times and way too self-centered to truly like. And LC, even though she was the narrator, it was still hard to feel for her because she was the one who kept wasting her feelings on a guy that obviously didn't deserve it. She's that stereotypical dumb girl we all have seen too many times, who knows she's being used but doesn't have the self-respect to do anything about it.
But by the final episode, I couldn't help but feel somewhat attached to all three of them. Despite their many shortcomings, I think I was still rooting for a happy ending for all of them in the end. The weird thing is that I don't really know what the best ending would be. On the one hand, I kind of wished Steven and Kristin would stay together like they were meant to be, but also thought it might be nice if LC and Steven hooked up in college and made each other happy too.
I guess the show's ambiguous ending was not bad, a good way to leave the viewers wondering. Especially since they had a Laguna Beach 2 planned, which I will definitely watch in hopes of seeing updates on what happened between the three star-crossed lovers. Not to mention the "new girl in the Mercedes", who is a good bet to spice things up.
People like to compare Laguna Beach to the OC, but I'd say this show is way better, for the simple and obvious fact that it's more believable. I know "reality TV" is never truly "real", but at least you don't have ridiculous things like guys hooking up with their ex-girlfriend's mom in this show. Even though I have to say LC's mom is not too shabby, they should follow her around more... haha.
One other thing I thought was interesting was how that one girl was a part of the Schuller family, who are actually kind of well known in the Christian community. At least, I have heard of them, the Crystal Cathedral, and seen the older Robert Schuller (her grandfather) preaching on TV before. It was funny watching her dad, Robert Jr., preach too, because he sounds and acts almost exactly like Rev. Lovejoy in the Simpsons.
While I'm at it, let me also say this: not all reality shows need to have a "point", like eliminating people every week and everyone fighting to win some prize money or a shot at stardom in the end. We have enough of those shows as it is, thank you.
Oh I almost forgot, the music in the show is awesome too. Hillary Duff 4-ever!!! Just kidding... kind of.
Hopefully they will release a Laguna Beach Season 1 DVD, with special features and deleted scenes. I'd line up to buy that one.
I'm not sure if I have mentioned this before in my blog, but Laguna Beach is an awesome show. I know I always rip on trashy "reality TV" and stuff, but then I somehow always end up watching these shows anyways and find myself enjoying them.
I guess I'm not really sure why I liked this show so much. Olivia says "you just like it cause you think Kristin's hot", which she is, but that's only a small part of it, honestly. You gotta admit Kristin is pretty good looking, even though she's still just a high school girl. Not like I'm worshipping her as a goddess and drooling over her beauty as I'm watching the show, or anything like that. She's definitely not hot enough to make me watch a show purely based on hotness. The only examples I can think of that fit that category were Jessica Alba in Dark Angel, and currently maybe that dark-haired Desperate Housewife (Eva Langoria?). Even that one is questionable, she looked a little overrated in the last couple episodes I saw.
As far as Laguna Beach goes, people say it has no plot, and what's the point of watching, but they clearly don't understand the show. That's what I thought at first too. Who wants to watch a bunch of spoiled rich white high schoolers? If we can't stand them when they're being annoying at the movie theater or at the mall, why would we enjoy a "reality" show about them?
But after watching a few episodes, I realized that even though these are exactly the kids we all hate, their lives are actually still very interesting. It's all the stuff I never went through in my own high school experience - the girls, the drama, golfing, surfing, and hanging out at the beach. Am I envious of their lives? Maybe about some things, but overall, no not really. It's mostly just entertaining and interesting to watch.
And I couldn't disagree more about the show having no plot. It's about a bunch of high school seniors going through their last year in Laguna Beach before they all head off in different directions. At the center of it is LC, and the love triangle between her, Steven, and Kristin. There were other subplots too, but this was by far the most captivating storyline and probably the main reason I kept watching. How much more of a plot do you need anyways?
The thing is, it's not like I even liked any of the characters. Most of the girls were dumb, and the guys were tools, which I figured they would be anyways. Kristin, for all her attractiveness, was pretty freaking annoying and wasted her looks by being too much of a hoe. Steven, while you gotta give him props for being a stud (by high school standards), was too big of a whiner at times and way too self-centered to truly like. And LC, even though she was the narrator, it was still hard to feel for her because she was the one who kept wasting her feelings on a guy that obviously didn't deserve it. She's that stereotypical dumb girl we all have seen too many times, who knows she's being used but doesn't have the self-respect to do anything about it.
But by the final episode, I couldn't help but feel somewhat attached to all three of them. Despite their many shortcomings, I think I was still rooting for a happy ending for all of them in the end. The weird thing is that I don't really know what the best ending would be. On the one hand, I kind of wished Steven and Kristin would stay together like they were meant to be, but also thought it might be nice if LC and Steven hooked up in college and made each other happy too.
I guess the show's ambiguous ending was not bad, a good way to leave the viewers wondering. Especially since they had a Laguna Beach 2 planned, which I will definitely watch in hopes of seeing updates on what happened between the three star-crossed lovers. Not to mention the "new girl in the Mercedes", who is a good bet to spice things up.
People like to compare Laguna Beach to the OC, but I'd say this show is way better, for the simple and obvious fact that it's more believable. I know "reality TV" is never truly "real", but at least you don't have ridiculous things like guys hooking up with their ex-girlfriend's mom in this show. Even though I have to say LC's mom is not too shabby, they should follow her around more... haha.
One other thing I thought was interesting was how that one girl was a part of the Schuller family, who are actually kind of well known in the Christian community. At least, I have heard of them, the Crystal Cathedral, and seen the older Robert Schuller (her grandfather) preaching on TV before. It was funny watching her dad, Robert Jr., preach too, because he sounds and acts almost exactly like Rev. Lovejoy in the Simpsons.
While I'm at it, let me also say this: not all reality shows need to have a "point", like eliminating people every week and everyone fighting to win some prize money or a shot at stardom in the end. We have enough of those shows as it is, thank you.
Oh I almost forgot, the music in the show is awesome too. Hillary Duff 4-ever!!! Just kidding... kind of.
Hopefully they will release a Laguna Beach Season 1 DVD, with special features and deleted scenes. I'd line up to buy that one.
Tuesday, December 07, 2004
We're #1
Over the past few years, we've had some good teams and gotten close to #1 a number of times, but never quite made it there. Well, after the latest polls were released yesterday, the Illini fans can now officially say we are the #1 team in the nation.
Yeah, it's still very early in the season, so of course a lot can change between now and March. And we all know that the real prize in college basketball isn't being named #1 in December, but to make a run at the Final Four in St. Louis and the national championship. Still, there's something about the sound of "the top-ranked Fighting Illini" that has an especially sweet ring to it. If nothing else, it will help in recruiting I guess.
The encouraging thing is, I think this team actually deserves its high ranking from what we've seen of it so far. Solid starting five, possibly the best of any team in the country, and the bench isn't bad either. Also, it means something extra that we didn't just back into the #1 spot by teams ahead of us losing. We scheduled tough teams early on, and beat them, including the incumbent #1, to earn that honor. Let's just hope they keep playing well from here on out and make the rest of this season a great one.
Over the past few years, we've had some good teams and gotten close to #1 a number of times, but never quite made it there. Well, after the latest polls were released yesterday, the Illini fans can now officially say we are the #1 team in the nation.
Yeah, it's still very early in the season, so of course a lot can change between now and March. And we all know that the real prize in college basketball isn't being named #1 in December, but to make a run at the Final Four in St. Louis and the national championship. Still, there's something about the sound of "the top-ranked Fighting Illini" that has an especially sweet ring to it. If nothing else, it will help in recruiting I guess.
The encouraging thing is, I think this team actually deserves its high ranking from what we've seen of it so far. Solid starting five, possibly the best of any team in the country, and the bench isn't bad either. Also, it means something extra that we didn't just back into the #1 spot by teams ahead of us losing. We scheduled tough teams early on, and beat them, including the incumbent #1, to earn that honor. Let's just hope they keep playing well from here on out and make the rest of this season a great one.
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