Death of Auto-Tune? CBS Reports

It must seriously be a slow news week. CBS actually took the time off from hyping up the few and otherwise inconsequential off-year state/local elections to do a segment on the musical phenomenon...Auto-tune. Really.

What was interesting is that they went completely mainstream with their coverage artists. They suggested that Kenny Chesney and Rihanna may have used it for tone correction (bless her heart, but we know Rihanna is using it). CBS even mentioned Cher and her 1998 hit Believe. I mean it was a good song and all but... Conspicuously missing was a mention of T-Pain (admittedly he's a bit of a hometown hero) who has made a place in urban and popular music with his amazing production and his distinctive auto-tuned vocals. I mean he was only hot for the past three years. Oh and Kanye West. Are they going to say they don't know Kanye West? He was on the news for a week last month for interrupting Taylor Swift's acceptance speech during the Video Music Awards. Kanye West's recent platinum selling 808s and Heartbreak was completely auto-tune. Completely. I find it odd tat these artists weren't mentioned.

So apparently there is this new "thing", auto-tuning the news. It is quite innovative. They take Katie Couric or Bill O'Reilly and alter their voice with auto-tune, giving the news anchor (or what ever you call Bill O'Reilly) a melodic sound. And by they I mean some jobless geeks who have now proven that even that you don't need talent to sing. You don't even need to be singing to sing. Now that some nerds and Katie Couric are on the auto-tune bandwagon, I believe Jay-Z has finally gotten his wish. Auto-tune is soon to meet its death.

Check the clip below.

Sympathy and Regret

I used to watch Jon and Kate plus 8 out of pitty. I felt sorry for the family of ten because I felt no matter how many field trips those lucky little critters go to go on, the family was still incredibly dysfunctional. Kate was controlling and and disturbingly structured . How many "projects" must children do with pudding, puddy, pasta shells...is that normal? At home? All the time? I understand her need for order, with 8 children it is easy to be overwhelmed and feel out of control.

I used to think that the obvious dysfunction in the Gosselin marriage was because of her controlling behavior. I would watch attentively and notice the death on Jon's face as he gradually retreated into himself, into a place of apathy. It was easy think she pushed him there. Kate spoke to Jon in the same manner and tone she did her 5 year olds. And if you wasn't degrading or condescending she was combative. I felt like Jon died with every episode.

What started as empathy and sympathy when Jon began to dust off his man-parts and stand up for himself now has turned in to shame. I am ashamed for having any sympathy for him as he carries on like a circus bear on a tricycle in the media. Sure I understand that he had been treated as a child and now is acting out...like a child. Do I understand that he spent his twenties dealing with an emasculating wife and a crap load of kids that he didn't plan for? Yes. But he isn't in his twenties anymore he is a grown-grown man with grown-grown responsibilities and should act as such. It's sad now, because it now shifts all the sympathy to Kate. Stupid Jon.

Moreover, we know the abused individuals have a high probability of abusing others and Jon's relationship with 22 year old Hailey Glassman is an obvious attempt for him to assert himself as a man. This his attempt reassure himself of his masculine power and his alleged emotional abuse is him reflecting what was done to him and his insecurities about it happening again.

Now I don't excuse his ridiculous behavior, he needs help. He is 32 years old and this is too early for him to be experiencing a mid-life crisis. Instead of the media, gawking and watching someone spiral downward (like they did Britney Spears) some one should be human enough to get him some help. We will all regret ignoring when it produces 8 dysfunctional children.

Blogging 2.0

I have had the itch to blog again. I have had this itch for sometime but I decided to simply ignore it. But lately, I have inundated with thoughts like "what? some one should say something about that! I used to have a blog. What the hell happened to my blog?" After about 4 solid months of ignoring my blogging desires, I figured I would give it a go...again. Not that I have lots of time on my hands! I don't! There is so much going on so much to do. But I missed writing so much. It was what kept me up at night, what got me out of bed in the morning when you know, I was having a bit of trouble doing both. So here I am for blogging 2.0.

Dates...

I haven't been on a date in a while. Blogging is the best way to deal as opposed to eating, of course. Since I've started working out eating has been less gratifying. I'm left with public confessions as a way to cope. So again I haven't been on a date in a while.
Wait, let me be clear. I haven't been on a date in which both parties were aware that the meeting was indeed "a date"... at the same time. I have recently been dating someone I was not aware I was dating. I have had a friendly meeting with an ex that I suddenly wished was a date. Once I was on a GOOD DATE but didn't realize it until the food came out. So of course being caught unawares and notably unprepared, I made the situation incredibly awkward. I really have to take the "L" on that one because the guy clearly took the date seriously. And you can't ask for a do-over...
There are tofu dates. An example of a tofu date is going out on a friday night with your brother, male cousin, best guy friend who is clearly happily married. Tofu dates are dates in which the chances of sleeping together at the end of the night, even under the influence of alcohol, are so slim that they are neglible. And keeping with the metaphors, I haven't eating meat in quite a while. *ahem*
Then there are tentative dates. You know, the ones that never happen. The ones I don't get my hopes up for but keep setting up. The logic behind this is if I don't I will have to admit that the possibility of going on a date is not in my control. I'm a decent looking woman in her mid-twenties. I should have some type of control, right?
So anyway I will round this out by saying dates may be over-rated I guess. Especially if you don't know when you are on them! Good sex is not however. Unfortunately I have long admitted my lack of control over that.

How gangsta is this???

Fiddy replaced his already winning smile with new porcelain veneers [insert sarcasm here]. I just want to know when cosmetic surgery was "gangsta". What happened "to keepin' real?" Oh wait I get it, he's switching the game up. While others are getting gold and platinum in their mouth he went out and copped that "porcelain grill". Ahhhhh... Sorry 50 Cent, I didn't have my Vitamin Water today. Thanks for putting me on game. When is the G-Unit line of Lunineers coming out? Patience is a virtue. I'm just going to sip on my Vitamin Water until then.

He Made Paris Cry

Rap superstar 50 Cent kicked Paris Hilton offstage and reduced her to tears during a pre-Super Bowl concert on Thursday.
Hilton hosted the bash for 944 magazine in Scottsdale, Ariz., and was stunned when the headliner turned on her.
The two star attractions have been romantically linked in the past, but there was no love lost when Hilton tried to steal the show.
After 50 Cent name checked her during his performance, Hilton climbed onstage to dance, but was promptly told to "Get the [bleep] off the stage" by the angry star.
Onlookers tell Page Six the outburst prompted Hilton to break down in tears, which was captured on film by photographers at the event. [Source]

50 Cent is an asshole.

I love Michelle

When news first began to buzz about of Barack Obama aspiring for the White House I would joke about getting my presidential internship application ready. But I learned about the wife I would be trying to take him away from Michelle and how do they say it in the streets? Game recognizes game. That's a real woman. And she immediately became one of my heroes. What I love about her is her realness, her frankness about life and her relationship with her husband. She also makes it look doable. It reminds me of one of my favorite quotes by Mark Twain that "great people aren't those who can make others feel that they too, can become great." She's pretty great to me. As amazing an accomplished in her own right (she was Barack's mentor at the law firm in which they met) as she is, I can see myself there. Not just by the obvious, the way she looks (though I am comforted by the fact that she has a relaxer), but the way she speaks and what she speaks about. While I DO LOVE Barack, I love the woman who managed to marry Sen. Obama more.

Politically Exhausted

I'm a political news junkie, as they have coined it on CNN. Actually, I am a CNN junkie. I watch CNN all day. While I admittedly, am watching to catch TJ Holmes do breaking news through out the day...he is gorgeous...I'm a bit satisfied with being up to date on all the major happenings in the world. In the realm of U.S. politics however, the coverage seems to be geared towards giving the viewers an adreneline rush or even a heart attack. They comment about exit polls and surveys as if they were calling the World Series or the Super Bowl. "He has to win this state or he's out"They keep talking about momentum, campaign funds and lack their of, I'm freaking out and its not my money! It's "all or nothing", "winner takes all states", "Super Tuesday". I can't keep up! I have got to say I'm tired. Especially after Super Tuesday, I'm beat. Not particularly about the campaigning but certainnly about the media and their definitive commentary and their mea culpas later. Chill out! If CNN is not trying to sway the thoughts of their audience and not trying to influence the outcome they can soooo chill out and give TJ Holmes some more weekday airtime. It's hard to wait sometimes til Saturday morning.

50 Cent endorses Hillary Clinton

50 Cent endorses Hillary Clinton. Why?

Because he thinks that she''ll do a good job.

Oh and because he's not "sure that America is ready for a black president."

"I think they'll shoot him," he's says.

Fiddy represents the wave of the future, he's the embodiment of the dreams and aspirations of today's youth. Get rich or die trying, right? Keep drinking that Vitamin Water, it's today's poisoned kool-aid, I swear.

Lacey Curtains

Lacey embroidered curtains...

Every Nigerian or Nigerian-American (as I am forcing myself to make a distinction between the two) has suffered through heavy drapery that, for whatever reason, does not coordinate with the furniture in their home. It's not just me.

I believe this is another testiment of the genuine flamboyance of Naija people. Even the most humble of Nigerians have these satin, silk-laced overlaid embroidered curtains in some serious color. Magenta. Royal Blue. We just can't help it.

Why?

It's too much. Lacey satin curtains are too much. I'm just saying...