Balloon Boy

I'm sure you remember the "balloon boy hoax" that happened this past October, but I wanted to revisit it because the parents in this case just got their sentencing. Apparently because of the little stint they pulled to hopefully get a reality television part they have earned themselves 90 days jail time, 4 years probation and an $11,000 fine. I can't believe that these parents would put their poor children through this and make them lie to everyone just to hopefully get a part on a reality television show. Those are some seriously messed up parents. It's one thing to put yourself through something to gain attention, but it's a whole other thing to drag your children into it.

I heard that the couple met in acting school, so it's clear that they were willing to go through any length to become actors, even if that meant subjecting their children so they could live out their dream. I don't understand how someone can be that desperate for attention. Well they got attention for it, but I don't think it was the attention they necessarily wanted. And now they have a pretty hefty fine and some jail time for the attention they wanted. That's quite the price to pay for fame.

Tough Love

I don't watch many reality television shows...I don't really like them. But I do religiously watch one called Tough Love. It's kind of a boot camp where a matchmaker named Steve Ward gets a group of girls ready to date and sets them up with potential matches. Each week he puts them through certain tests to see how they do, like how they do with kids, how well they can convey specific information to their date, or even how well they listen to their date. Some of the tests can be kind of funny.

It's interesting to hear his perspective on the girls' dates and the advice he gives. Overall, he makes the girls feel better about themselves and have higher self-esteem. They don't all end up with matches in the end, but they all gain a better grasp of who they are and how to act appropriately on a date. I guess what really makes all the advice and everything worthwhile is that the man dishing out the advice is actually a man. So, he knows exactly what men are thinking when these girls say or do certain things. He can give them a clear perspective on what their date was probably thinking because he is a guy.

Girl Bands

I had my Ipod on shuffle today and the Spice Girls song, "Wannabe," came on. It got me thinking how I haven't really heard of a girl band since them and Destiny's Child that have really hit it big. There are those few girl bands that are around, I think. I actually can't think of any girl bands around right now. There were quite a few big girl bands in the 80's, like the Bangles and the Go-Go's.

After that we had the Spice Girls who really took the whole girl band thing to a whole other level. They were all about girl empowerment and girls being able to do things just as well as guys in the music industry. After them we had Destiny's Child who were the first really big girl group in R&B and hip hop genre. But since them I haven't heard of any. I'm not really sure why we haven't heard from many girl groups recently. Boy bands always make the rounds and there's always a new one even though they may not be exactly of the same breed. But girl groups seem to be missing in action.

Sherlock Holmes

I saw Sherlock Holmes this weekend and I really enjoyed it. Robert Downey Jr. is one of my favorite actors so I may be a little biased, but I thought it was really good. I've read a few of the Sherlock Holmes stories and I thought it paid homage to the books. Sherlock was little more aggressive and physical in the film than he was in the books. And I know that upset some people because that wasn't how it was in the books, but I think it did happen in the books, Doyle (the author) just didn't focus on the fighting because that wasn't what he wanted Sherlock to be known for. He wanted Sherlock to be known for his intelligence which I think they showed very well in the film.

Another interesting thing the film focused on was the relationship between Holmes and Watson. They are really close and practically like brothers. Watson has a little more common sense than Holmes, but because of his love for Holmes, Watson is always getting sucked in to whatever crazy schemes and situations he's getting into. The film overall was creative and funny and encorporated some action. Robert Downey Jr. , Jude Law, and Rachel McAdams were all great in the movie!

Gran Torino

Tonight I watched Gran Torino and it was really good. I had heard that it was a very good movie and was interested in seeing it. I waited so long to see it because the previews made it look kind of dramatic. It is indeed very dramatic because the whole premise of the movie is about an old, racist man and his relationship with his Vietnamese neighbor who is trying to withstand becoming part of a gang. Clint Eastwood produced, directed, and starred in the film. And even though it was a very dramatic movie, it was actually quite funny. The old man, Walt, played by Clint Eastwood was hilarious! He just was so awkward when it came to fitting in with the Vietnamese family next door and by the end they really accepted him as part of their family. I was pleasantly surprised with this film overall.

A Christmas Story

Every year on Christmas my family and I watch A Christmas Story. I think it is absolutely hilarious! It is the story of this little boy, Ralphie, and all he wants for Christmas is a Red Rider Bebe gun. He goes through all these ploys and different scenarios to plant it in any adults head that this is what he really should get. There is a narrator and the way he describes what is happening is absolutely hilarious! The kid who plays Ralphie is really a great actor. He had to be about 10 when he appeared in the movie and he is just amazing. His facial expressions are priceless.

My entire family loves this movie. Like my entire family! I mean all my aunts, uncles, and 22 cousins! Every year we do a yankee swap and usually there's one hot item that goes around quite a bit. And this year it was the leg lamp from the movie! We ended up with it and we put it in our window just like in the movie!

Entourage

Since I've been home for break I've recently started watching Entourage and I absolutely love it. I'm honestly not sure why I like it exactly, but I have really become addicted to it. I guess after thinking about it now, the reason why I probably like it is because I find the relationship between these 4 guys really interesting. There's the rising actor, Vince, who is becoming more famous by the minute and of course he has his entourage. His two friends from home and his brother. His friend, Eric, is there to help him choose movies and propel his career. His friend, Turtle, is there simply to have a good time and mooch off of Vince. His brother, Johnny Drama, who was once a big name actor is trying to become famous again through his brother. It's funny to watch these 4 guys help each other out and become accustomed to a new type of life style while trying to live in the moment.

I heard that the show is loosely based on Mark Wahlberg's life and I know that he is the executive producer. I think the show could really be based on almost any actor's experience rising in the entertainment industry. It's rare that an actor shows up anywhere without their entourage these days.

The Blindside

I just recently saw "The Blindside" and I thought it was amazing. It was a truly touching story about a homeless boy and the family that took him in. It's based on the true story of Michael Oher, a now professional football player. It not only was it inspiring, but it had it's funny moments as well. Sandra Bullock did a fabulous job at playing Leigh Ann, the mother who takes in Michael. The way she portrayed her was just unbelievable. And seeing a woman like that really got me inspired.

We always tend to judge people without even getting to know them and this woman pretty much saw a boy walking in the cold and invited him to spend the night and get warm. After seeing this movie, I really want to try and be less judgemental which is something I think everyone could learn from seeing this movie. Overall, it was just a phenomenal film and I would absolutely recommend it!

Fame

I saw the remake of "Fame" recently and didn't think it was all that great. I love movies that consist of singing, dancing, and pretty much anything musical. And although this had some song and dance, I wouldn't really consider it a musical. For those who don't know what the movie is about, it pretty much follows a few students starting at their auditions for a school of performing arts all the way through graduation. It shows the fun and hardships of show business. All the actors were definitely extremely talented and played their parts very well. And for a school of performing arts there wasn't as much art performances as I would have imagined.

I've also seen the original "Fame" and I absolutely hated that one. It had one song and dance in the entire film. So, although I didn't think the new one was that great, it was much better than the original. I think the biggest problem with both films was that they had too many characters which meant too many stories. There was so much going on that there wasn't enough time to develop any one real story. Which in one sense was cool, but that's how high school really is. There's always more going on than just the one story a film typically tends to show. But for a movie it becomes confusing and you really don't get a feel for any of the characters. You only get to see the surface of each story and don't ever get to go into real depths of it. Maybe that's why I didn't really enjoy the movie. Here's the trailer...the first is for the old "Fame"...and the second is for the new "Fame."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=51g-cS7nYUY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fRPca0Lvp1w

Boy Bands

I babysit 3 girls during the week. One is 11 and the other two are 6. They love Hannah Montana, Selena Gomez, and of course the Jonas Brothers. They always want me to tell them a story and lately I've been running out of stories to tell them. So, I decided to tell them about my first concert which just happened to be NSYNC. You can imagine my surprise when they asked me who NSYNC was. I explained to them that they were a very popular boy band in the late '90's and early 2000's. And I realized that these girls really haven't experienced the boy band phenomenon. I mean they have the Jonas Brothers which is definitely a boy band, but not the kind I'm talking about. I'm talking about the ones who sing and dance and each have a role in the band, like the bad boy, the heartthrob, the shy one, etc. These kinds of bands had a type of boy for each type of girl and not only did their voices make all the girls swoon, but they had dance moves to make the girls go just that much crazier.

It made me wonder why girls do go so crazy over these boy bands. I mean I loved the boy bands of the '90's, but I never cried when I saw them in concert or on TV. I read in Rolling Stone magazine once that the reason these girls act so obsessed is because at around age 13, there is a chemical in girls' brains that give them the feeling of love. So, these girls legitimately feel that they are in love with these guys in these bands and when they see them they just go insane. Much like girls today feel about the Jonas Brothers. Even though the Jonas Brothers are not the stereotypical boy band that I know and remember, they do represent a type of boy band. Really the only difference is that they play their instruments on stage and there's only 3 of them as opposed to the typical 4 or 5 members. And I'm sure after the Jonas Brothers have faded, there will be another boy band to replace them and girls will go just as crazy for them. I think boy bands will always have a place in our society, I'm not really sure if that's good or bad though! Haha!

The Office

I absolutely love "The Office." I think it is one of the best and funniest shows on television right now. For those who have never seen it, it is a documentary style show about a typical day at an office. It follows workers of a paper company called Dunder Mifflin. It also showcases the different kinds of relationships in an office setting between romance relationships, employer to employee relationships, and co-worker relationships.

Probably the funniest relationship is between Jim and Dwight. Dwight is sort of the office "suck-up" and cannot stand Jim. So, naturally Jim makes it his mission to make Dwight's life as difficult as it can be at work. He is constantly pulling pranks on Dwight and just trying to confuse him as much as possible. I think it is absolutely hilarious and to me this show never gets boring!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pLbqnYhw6jk

Nitro Circus

My sister absolutely loves Travis Pastrana. For those who do not know who he is, he is a motocross racer and now has his own show, "Nitro Circus." It reminds me quite a bit of "Jackass," actually. Pretty much Travis and his crew do random, stupid, dangerous activities just to see if they can. Unlike "Jackass" though Travis's stunts are usually a little more planned out and don't rank quite as high on the stupidity factor as the "Jackass" stunts, at least that's what I think. The stunts on "Nitro Circus" usually involve motocross bikes, cars, skateboards, BMX bikes, boats and even planes sometimes.

I will admit that when it comes to these kind of shows I am a bit of a hypocrit. I love all the kind of stunts that they do on this show and think it's pretty cool, but at the same time I think it's insanely stupid. As cool as it is, there really is no point in doing some of these stunts. I don't understand why these guys put themselves through so much pain just to do a stunt. One thing I respect about the show is that there is a girl on it. Types of shows like these and even the sports the cast of these shows do like skateboarding or motocross riding typically tend to be male dominated. So, it's definitely nice to see a girl motocross rider involved in this type of show. So, I'm not really sure how I feel about this show, I love it but think it's incredibly stupid at the same time. Tell me what you think if you've seen it before. Here's the trailer so you can decide for yourself:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nQvAXnOZtGk

Glee

So, I have recently gotten into that new television show, Glee. We didn't have a Glee club in my high school, but we had a chorus which I participated in. It counted as a class though, so it wasn't really like a club atmosphere. But after watching it the past few weeks I have really enjoyed it. For those who have never seen or heard of it, it is about a teacher who is forming a Glee club in the high school he works in. Each episode deals with issues this teacher is dealing with in his personal life and professional life. It also follows different types of students and cliques in high school and what they deal with on a daily basis. Glee takes place in a small town and deals with issues ranging from love to self-esteem.

I also find it interesting that this is really one of the first musical television shows. Each show involves the Glee club singing and sometimes dancing whether it be in a performance atmosphere or in regards to something happening in their personal life. It's a comedy and musical at the same time. I thought it was interesting especially since we were talking about genre this past week because I have never seen a television show that was considered a musical before. It must be extremely difficult to create because not only do the creators have the plot to figure out they also have to come up with different musical numbers and change them up so they work within that particular episode.

This week's past episode definitely had one of the funniest moments where the football players dance to Beyonce's "Single Ladies" right before they make their last play that will decide whether or not they win the game. Here's a clip of it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v4mMfdzdaio

Boston Bruins

This past Sunday I went to a practice for the Boston Bruins that was open to the public. Pretty much the hockey players did drills and practiced while people could sit in the seats of the Garden, free of charge, and watch. I love hockey and the Bruins, so it was pretty cool to see. My brother and sister both play hockey, so a lot of the drills they were doing were similar to ones I have seen before. Probably about halfway thru the practice they began doing a two-on-two drill. Two players would defend one goalie and then when the whistle was blown they would all skate down the other end of the ice where the other two players would defend the other goalie.

Some of the players are veterans of professional hockey while for others it was their first time in this kind of environment. The captain of the team, Zdeno Chara, was participating in the two-on-two drill and ended up scoring a goal. The small crowd that was there erupted in appalause and cheering. This reaction did not really make sense to me because the goal didn't count for anything and he was playing and shooting against his own teammates. I mean, good for him for getting a goal, I just don't think it warranted that kind of appalause.

This makes me wonder if the media has influenced us so much that because we know scoring a goal is a good thing we get excited about it even when it doesn't count for anything. Is it the media's fault that these people got excited about a goal that doesn't count? In one sense, I believe it is. The media is sort of our gateway of how to act in certain situations. So, we know that when our team scores a goal the appropriate response is to cheer. But have people stopped realizing what's going on and just aimlessly cheer whenever they recognize someone scoring a goal? I do believe that the media is partially responsible for people acting like robots, but it is also "people's" own fault for what we are turning into. If people do not pay attention to their surroundings then they are to blame for being a mindless drone. Also, the media reports on what the population sees as important. So, if the population sees scoring a goal important the media is going to report on that. The reason the media has taught us how to act in a situation where goals are scored is because that is what the population has deemed important for all of us to know.

VMA's

Last night I watched the Video Music Awards (VMA) on MTV and was completely appalled about what Kanye did to Taylor Swift. Taylor won the first award of the night and her very first VMA award. During her thank-you speech Kanye West made his way on the stage, took the mic from Taylor, and proceeded to say that Beyonce had the best video instead. I have no idea what was going through his head when he decided that his opinion was more important than a talented artist giving her thank you speech.

Of course this was the biggest topic during and after the VMA's. Everyone from the host of the VMA's to news hosts to online sources were discussing it. So, even though it was a horrible thing to do, Kanye actually may have done himself a favor. He was the most talked about artist of the night and he didn't win a single award! Even though he did not perform or win anything, he made sure people knew he was there. But I do have to wonder is the media that predictable that celebrities know if they do something shocking and eccentric they will be the topic of conversation the next day? I believe issues like this should be addressed, but maybe the media could not give as much attention to people who are seeking that negative attention.

But on the other hand, Taylor Swift's name is also one circulating quite a bit throughout the media. People have been supporting her because of the stint Kanye pulled. So, I guess with each negative issue the media addresses is a positive one for someone else involved. I suppose it's hard not to discuss the most obvious of events that happen because it is going to be what people are most interested in. Choosing what stories to report on is definitely important and certainly not as easy a task as people would like to think it is.

Introduction

Hey Guys,
My name is Jacqui and I'm at senior at Bridgewater State College majoring in Communication. I had to make this blog for an online class I'm taking and as you will probably be able to tell this is my first time ever using or publishing a blog, so bare with me. This is also my first full online class, so it should be an interesting semester to say the least. I don't really have anything left to say, so I guess I'll leave it at this for now. Talk to y'all later!!