Sometimes the truth hurts....

Regardless of your opinion on the show American Idol...I happen to think the first few weeks of the tryouts are absolutely hysterical. I mean it brought us the musical hit 'Pants on the Ground' after all. But it's the truly awful people that think they can sing that come in and just get blasted by Simon and the other judges that cracks me up the most. When a judge can't even manage to stop themselves from spontaneous laughter at your performance, maybe you shouldn't be there.

What really makes me watch this show like a car driving slowly by a nasty wreck on the freeway is the fact that all these people that are truly horrible singers show up with huge groups of family and friends that are all shocked and disappointed when their 'star' doesn't get a ticket to go through to Hollywood.

I know that as a spouse or a family member or a friend that you don't want to be cruel or dash someones dreams. You smile and nod when the belt out their tone deaf renditions of their favorite songs. You laugh a bit when they put on a strange outfit and dance around the living room. Maybe you have a few drinks and join them for a night of Karaoke at the local bar. That is all well and good.. and makes you a great friend to have.

However, if said tone deaf friend comes to you and says:

"Hey I am thinking about driving half a day to stand in line for 10 hours so that I can get a chance to be on national TV singing my version of 'Achy Breaky Heart'... what do you think? Oh and I am going to wear a giant banana costume to really grab their attention. Want to go with me?"

This is where you need to be an even better friend. You need to be the kind of friend that takes away keys at a bar when you know someone has had too much to drink. This is the time for a reality check. Time to finally tell them that while you like their voice and have fun with them at karaoke, that they are not cut out for singing as a career and they should save themselves the time and embarrassment of showing the world that fact.

I encourage my kids to pursue their dreams and do the activities that make them happy. For example, my older son likes to play basketball. Really enjoys it and I love watching him play. However, if he told me tomorrow that he wanted to drive somewhere to tryout for the olympic basketball team, I would tell him honestly that he was not ready for that level of play. I would offer to help him find a way to get more practice, playtime and such if he was really that interested in becoming great at the sport. I just wouldn't encourage him to go get his dreams dashed when he was clearly not ready.

Sometimes.. you need to just give that special person in your life a bit of a reality check so that this doesn't happen:



Know when to say when. Or know when to say "I heard a cat being gutted with a rusty spork that sounded about the same as your last cover of 'Put a Ring On It'. :P
Be that friend!

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It's Entertainment People..

I am not sure when going to the movies stopped being about a few hours of enjoyable entertainment and turned into something that should be over analyzed and dissected to the point where people are getting offended and feel the need to fight back against the injustices being brought down upon the world through film!

I just saw Avatar again yesterday. I went with my boys while on Vacation in Phoenix and enjoyed it enough to go see it again yesterday with a friend. I won't give out any spoilers in case anyone is still planning on seeing it, but the basic storyline is of a mining company that has discovered a valuable resource on another planet called Pandora and the resulting interactions with the indigenous people there.

I enjoyed the movie. I enjoyed the story. I enjoyed the extra dynamic that the 3D presentation brought to it. The environment of Pandora was very intriguing. The plants and animals were unique and very creative. It was 3 hours of entertainment.

What I didn't do upon leaving the theater is start trying to draw parallels to society and find some kind of way to be offended. If I didn't like the movie, then I would say so, but not try to turn it into some slanderous tragedy. Avatar has been hit with accusation of racism. Conservatives and liberals alike have been attacking the film from different angles. The disabled have lodged complaints because of the fact that the main character that is in a wheelchair is not using a specialized cushion which anyone with a spinal cord injury would be using in real life to prevent pressure sores.

Seriously people.. it's a fucking movie. It's fiction. It's a creation from someone's imagination. A huge portion of that movie was computer generated. Stop trying to turn movies into broad political statements or get offended because some little detail is not what it would be in real life. If you want real life, go out into the real world. If you are going to the theater to watch a movie that is pure FICTION .. then get the hell over yourself and your sensitivities and enjoy the entertainment. If you don't want to participate, then don't.

Here is the link to the article in case you are interested: HERE

Anyway.. my point is simple. CHILL THE FUCK OUT. Not every book, movie and song has to be some kind of statement on politics or society or some other issue we are supposed to be politically correct and overly sensitive on. Learn to relax and enjoy life sometimes. You will be a lot happier in the long run.

Next up... Southern Swamp Dwelling Rednecks get offended by the movie 'The Waterboy' and how they are portrayed. See the clip below and get offended for yourself!

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Pants on the ground!

You know those teens that wander around with pants that are 4 sizes too big and thus they have to hold them while they walk so that the waist, which is already at the back of their knees, doesn't fall all the way down and trip them up? The ones that might as well skip the pants all together as you can see their underwear plain as day anyway?

Well finally someone has made a song about it. Frankly.. I think this guy should have a record deal.. or at least turn the song into a public awareness campaign.



I remember walking through the airport with my grandfather one time and him stopping to ask various people if they were trying to shade the sides or back of their necks since they had their hats cocked to one side or on completely backwards. It was embarrassing when I was younger.. but I guess that is a sure sign I am getting old I now kinda get it. Every time I see some idiot holding his pants up so he doesn't trip himself up.. I want to go tell him how stupid he looks and make him duct tape his pants up in place so I don't have to see his underwear hangin out all over.

What I find truly amusing is that many of the people that dress like that consider themselves 'thugs' or 'gangstas'. Yet they dress in a way that makes them as least efficient as possible for carrying out any of those gangsta related activities. How are you going to run from the cops after your robbery or fatal stabbing of a rival gang member when you can barely walk with your pants like that? That's why all the cool gangstas use weapons that can be fired with one hand. They need the other hand to keep their pants at least halfway up.

Maybe we should be thankful. If they started dressing normally and used two hands for their activities, they would probably be a lot more effective, thus causing more casualties and gang related crime. Also, they could get away from the cops better, keeping more of them on the street. I guess in many ways, baggy pants are responsible for slowing gang related crime and reducing casualties.

So rock on with your pants on the ground.. pants on the ground..looking like a fool...walking...talking...with your pants on the ground!!

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