Oh, America Idol, you heard my cries! Am I blinded by the country music theme week? Did you really not suck tonight? Ok, so I have to be out of the office all day tomorrow-I'll be rubbing elbows down at the Capitol in the morning for some advocacy work....so I thought I would go ahead and post my AI recap thoughts NOW, while I still remember, than wait until Thursday when it's all fuzzy. Let's see. Where to begin? Did I already say that I didn't totally hate it tonight? Was it low expectations allowing me to be suprised? Is it that I've seen these folks perform three times now, and I feel like I am starting to get a sense of what the contestants are really about and what they are capable of musically? Are my feelings all just a result of the awful Top 36 format they used this year? Anyway. On to the music.
First up...Michael. Garth Brooks! Score one for Mattie. I told yall someone would sing Garth! Bad song choice though. Michael, you have obviously never seen Garth perform this. His energy is cra-zazy when he does! Mikey was kind of like a limp noodle. He did appear to remember the gazillion words to this song, Ain't Goin Down, but he has no star quality. Really, we had to sacrifice Ricky Braddy for this guy?
Ok. I may not remember the exact order everyone went in. Who was next? I don't know. Let's just move on to Lil. She sang a Martina song. Score 2 for Mattie! Maybe I am better at this than I thought. I was sooo glad she did not sing IWALY a la Whitney. She actually tried to sing a country song! The judges HATE it. They told her she should have sung IWALY. WHAT? Judges clearly on drugs. Was it great? No. But that is because Lil is no as good as they have led us to believe. Not because of the song. What was with the Diamonds are a Girls Best Friend getup? That is what I thought she might sing based on the outfit. LOLz.
Oh, and Randy Travis is the mentor. Love me some Randy Travis! His "wife" is in the audience. *cough* sorry, couldn't resist. Anyway....Randy is pretty cute with the Idols, and acts like he actually has watched the show before. He tells every contestant that "Garth" or "Dolly" or whoever is REALLY going to like the Idol's version of their song. Its cute.
Back to singing. (This is what you get when I blog at night....I get a little ADD.) Kris! I told yall Kris would do well tonight. He sings...another Garth! To Make you Feel My Love. Ohmygosh I LOOOOVEEE this song! Its from Hope Floats. Trisha Yearwood has a version of it too, but Garth's is soooo pretty. Kris sings it, no guitar, changes up some melodies a little, and its quite pretty. I worried it might be a little too understated for the judges (they love ADAM, and if they love him how will they love something this simple?) but they ALSO loved it. Mattie is on FIRE with the predictions!
Allison....sings Patty Loveless's Blame it on Your Heart. Makes me think of my childhood! Not a great choice for her. She sang it fine, and I love Patty, but she should have toned it down a bit. She should have done Patty's You Hurt Me Bad (In a Real Good Way). Its slower but not a ballad. I did not predict anyone singing Patty. Mattie's record begins to slide.
Let's see....I totally cannot remember when anyone sang. LOL. SVU is wierd tonight. Let's see...Scotty on the piano. He ALSO sang Martina-Wild Angels. Kind of strange. He rearranged it, but he's got to break out of the slow-piano inspirational sounding mode. Pianos can rock out too! OMG it is almost my bedtime. Best part of Scott's portion of the show was when he went rogue and told the judges as they were knocking his song choice that he "lost a lot of hat-draws" this week-indicating-ANOTHER POINT FOR MATTIE-that there was a lot of fighting over songs this week! I knew it! I wonder what he really wanted to sing. Hmmm. I bet ALways on my Mind.
Yep, Anoop redeemed himself this week. I knew he had it in him! He sang a lovely arrangement of Willie Nelson's Always On My Mind-so beautiful. Perfect choice. The judges adequately acknowledged his return to greatness, and Simon apologized for saying last week that he was sorry they put him through. Woo-hoo! More like this, please.
How have I written this much and not talked about ADAM yet? O.M.G. What the HELL did he do to Johnny Cash? He sang this bizarre-at best-version of Johnny Cash's Ring of Fire. Um, I think June is rolling over in her grave as she did not intend for that song to ever be abused like that. Adam had a major fall from grace this week. Simon hated it. Paula loves him. Kara is on the fence. Randy thought that if NIN covered Johnny Cash, that's what it would sound like. Um, no. Johnny covered NIN and there is no way that they would do that to his song in return. BAD. BAD. Might this not be a Gokey v. Theater Boy finale after all?
Speaking of Gokey. When I heard that Danny-boy was going to sing Carrie Underpants' Jesus Take the Wheel, I changed the channel. I did not need to see that. I did see a clip during the recap at the end of the show, and I was right-I did not need to see that. I don't know why I want to smack him. That jacket he had on was not cute. Aren't people dressing them?
Poor Megan. Who is apparently now Megan Joy, not Megan Joy Corkrey. She did Patsy Cline's "Walking After Midnight" (I am soooo psychic!) and actually did a god job! She looked pretty too-much better makeup this week. I haven't been "getting" her, but I did this week. And apparently she went to the hospital with the flu this week. Good for her! She really doesn't seem to feel well.
Matt....Matt did very well too-another Carrie Underpants song (if Jorge and Jasmine had been in, they were singing Carrie too-good grief, might as well have Carrie night next year) and Randy Travis told him he did not think it would be a good choice before Matt sang it for him. Randy changed his mind-Matt als changed it up, and since this is one of the few Carrie songs that I actually kind of like, I was happy. The judges loved it. He obviously got the pimp spot for a reason, they like to go out on a high note. Who have I forgotten? That's only ten.
Oh no-Simon was right! ALEXIS! He said that people would forget about that in ten minutes, and I totally did. Not good! She sang Jolene. It was just average. She wanted to show a softer side, but I don't think she went soft enough. Hello, listen to the lyrics. This is a desperate song. She lacked the emotion and relied on oversinging instead of interpreting Dolly (holla, another point for me!) She talked back when the judges criticized her. Is she getting a little "high school bitchy" to quote Tina Fey? She is rubbing me the wrong way tonight.
Ok...so overall, I was pleased. I will keep going into Motown week next week. *sigh* I wish I could quit you, AI. All of the judges' pets got ragged on, and that made me happy too. Of course, it could just all be part of the producer's diabolical plan....
I think Alexis or Allison will get sent home. They both underwhelmed tonight. A lot of the contestants got smart with the judges, and people don't like that. If Alexis makes it through, I hope she improves her attitude.
ps blogger won't let me spell check, so sorry for all the typos. lol
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Flattery will get you EVERYWHERE....
I meant to tack this on to the Idol post, as it is music related.
Apparently Music Row's economy is JUST FINE as they are still throwing epic parties for the A-list country crowd. There was a recent party for Keith Urban to celebrate his album release (comes out today) and the fact that his song "Somebody Like You" has been played on the radio over 3 million times, which is apparently in the range of songs by artists like the Beatles. They showed a snippet of his thank you speech on the news this morning (yes, this kind of thing makes the NEWS in MUSIC CITY) he thanked his "muse" wife and fancy movie actress Nicole Kidman, but also thanked the city of Nashville for being "so damn good to me" and that he and his wife had been all over the world, they could live anywhere ya know, but they choose here because we are a beautiful city and let them live a normal life and they chose to raise their daughter here because we are AWESOME. I wonder what sales will be like for Keith's album in Nashville today? ;) I know people knock on Keith and Nicole, saying it won't last, but I think they are lovely and maybe I'm immune to the cynicism because of our mutual love of Nashville but I hope those two crazy kids make it, ya know? Anyway, now that I know they are in town I'm going to resume stalking all the Starbucks in Green Hills and trying to spot the Bentley!
And in other news....former AI winner Ruben Studdard filmed his most recent music video in Nashville yesterday. There is always a Nashville connection! I'll let yall know if I spot the Velvet Teddybear around town.
Apparently Music Row's economy is JUST FINE as they are still throwing epic parties for the A-list country crowd. There was a recent party for Keith Urban to celebrate his album release (comes out today) and the fact that his song "Somebody Like You" has been played on the radio over 3 million times, which is apparently in the range of songs by artists like the Beatles. They showed a snippet of his thank you speech on the news this morning (yes, this kind of thing makes the NEWS in MUSIC CITY) he thanked his "muse" wife and fancy movie actress Nicole Kidman, but also thanked the city of Nashville for being "so damn good to me" and that he and his wife had been all over the world, they could live anywhere ya know, but they choose here because we are a beautiful city and let them live a normal life and they chose to raise their daughter here because we are AWESOME. I wonder what sales will be like for Keith's album in Nashville today? ;) I know people knock on Keith and Nicole, saying it won't last, but I think they are lovely and maybe I'm immune to the cynicism because of our mutual love of Nashville but I hope those two crazy kids make it, ya know? Anyway, now that I know they are in town I'm going to resume stalking all the Starbucks in Green Hills and trying to spot the Bentley!
And in other news....former AI winner Ruben Studdard filmed his most recent music video in Nashville yesterday. There is always a Nashville connection! I'll let yall know if I spot the Velvet Teddybear around town.
American Idol, this is your last chance!
OK, so I said I'd tune in tonight for Grand Ole Opry Week, and then decide whether or not to finally stop flipping between AI and the Mentalist for the next several weeks and just tune in to CBS for that hot piece of man, Simon Baker. ;)
So I love trying to predict what people might sing on theme nights, and I'm pretty terrible at it (well, actually, I think I pick great songs for the contestants, they are the ones who make bad choices, lol). Take that back, I am terrible at predicting ACCURATELY, but they should totally sing what I tell them to! The problem this year is that so many of the contestants are so similar to each other-and not a one of them is a "country" artist this time around. I think there was probably A LOT of fighting for certain songs behind the scenes this week! So, based on that list I posted last week, here are a few predictions. I think that we will dfinitely hear someone sing a song by the following: Carrie Underpants, Garth Brooks, Patsy Cline, Johnny Cash, Martina McBride, Dolly Parton, and Trisha Yearwood. Since most of them claim to not be very familiar with country, they are all going to pick something more "mainstream" or something that's been done as a pop/rock version at some point. Particular songs? Crazy by Patsy, How Do I Live by Trisha (I totally think Michael is going to do this-he does NOT want to be pegged as the country guy, so he will do a country-pop song). I am thinking that we may hear more than one Garth song. I read somewhere that Kris likes Garth, and I could see Danny and Adam also picking Garth songs. We may also get some Brad Paisley-he is going to be on the show Wednesday, and some of his bigger hits are relatively mainstream. I think Alexis and Lil will go the Martina/Trisha/Carrie route. I wish no one would sing Carrie, but she is also going to be on the show, and people LOVE to sing Carrie songs, even though they usually get slammed for it. I think Megan or Allison may pick a Patsy song-they are not afraid to go a little retro. And, a song like Crazy has been covered so many times in so many different ways, they could easily find a less "country" arrangement. Dolly's "Jolene" has also been covered a lot, so that might happen tonight as well. Anoop-I have NO IDEA. He has not shown a great amount of sense in his song selections, so I am scared. I think next week is Motown and I hope he sticks around for it. But tonight might be an epic fail for him if he can't pick a good song. As for our piano men, Scott and Matt, they could also get "Crazy" and do Patsy on the piano, and I think they will both do something reasonably "old school" country. You know, Ray Charles did several country albums, I don't think he was a member of the GOO and I am too lazy to go back and look at that list of song choices, but I bet there is at least ONE song on there that he covered that Matt could do to stay in the judges good graces or another week.
All I can say is, if Lil does I Will Always Love You Whitney style, or Danny does "The Dance" or anything that will remotely refer to the dead wife, I am turning OFF the tv. I feel like I have no idea what any of these people are capable of musically and I want some suprises this evening, or I am giving up. (Or maybe giving Motown week a shot....MAN I think I am going to have trouble letting go here!)
So I love trying to predict what people might sing on theme nights, and I'm pretty terrible at it (well, actually, I think I pick great songs for the contestants, they are the ones who make bad choices, lol). Take that back, I am terrible at predicting ACCURATELY, but they should totally sing what I tell them to! The problem this year is that so many of the contestants are so similar to each other-and not a one of them is a "country" artist this time around. I think there was probably A LOT of fighting for certain songs behind the scenes this week! So, based on that list I posted last week, here are a few predictions. I think that we will dfinitely hear someone sing a song by the following: Carrie Underpants, Garth Brooks, Patsy Cline, Johnny Cash, Martina McBride, Dolly Parton, and Trisha Yearwood. Since most of them claim to not be very familiar with country, they are all going to pick something more "mainstream" or something that's been done as a pop/rock version at some point. Particular songs? Crazy by Patsy, How Do I Live by Trisha (I totally think Michael is going to do this-he does NOT want to be pegged as the country guy, so he will do a country-pop song). I am thinking that we may hear more than one Garth song. I read somewhere that Kris likes Garth, and I could see Danny and Adam also picking Garth songs. We may also get some Brad Paisley-he is going to be on the show Wednesday, and some of his bigger hits are relatively mainstream. I think Alexis and Lil will go the Martina/Trisha/Carrie route. I wish no one would sing Carrie, but she is also going to be on the show, and people LOVE to sing Carrie songs, even though they usually get slammed for it. I think Megan or Allison may pick a Patsy song-they are not afraid to go a little retro. And, a song like Crazy has been covered so many times in so many different ways, they could easily find a less "country" arrangement. Dolly's "Jolene" has also been covered a lot, so that might happen tonight as well. Anoop-I have NO IDEA. He has not shown a great amount of sense in his song selections, so I am scared. I think next week is Motown and I hope he sticks around for it. But tonight might be an epic fail for him if he can't pick a good song. As for our piano men, Scott and Matt, they could also get "Crazy" and do Patsy on the piano, and I think they will both do something reasonably "old school" country. You know, Ray Charles did several country albums, I don't think he was a member of the GOO and I am too lazy to go back and look at that list of song choices, but I bet there is at least ONE song on there that he covered that Matt could do to stay in the judges good graces or another week.
All I can say is, if Lil does I Will Always Love You Whitney style, or Danny does "The Dance" or anything that will remotely refer to the dead wife, I am turning OFF the tv. I feel like I have no idea what any of these people are capable of musically and I want some suprises this evening, or I am giving up. (Or maybe giving Motown week a shot....MAN I think I am going to have trouble letting go here!)
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Cookie Time?
Ok, so I have to say that in spite of spending three years working for Girl Scouts, cookie time came and went this year and I never once encountered a cookie booth, or had any of my old contacts ring me up to buy cookies. So, for the first year in forever, I did not buy a single box of Girl Scout cookies. My mom gave me a box she bought, and a couple of people brought some into work, so I've EATEN a few, but it did get me wondering how someone so well-connected to the Girl Scout universe never got asked to buy. Then I saw this article online today-once again, accusing the GS (rightly so) of being "behind the times" and not living up to their claim that they are a progressive organization for young women.
The article is right on! It talks about a girl in North Carolina who made a You Tube video advertising that she was selling cookies. She did not exchange money via the Internet in any way-folks were simply able to contact her and she would take the order and deliver the cookies in person. GS does have a rule about "online sales"-the rule is that they are not allowed. The controversy here is whether or not what she did fell into the sales or advertising category, and whether it was "fair" Because not all girls have computers and what about the rural areas, etc. Well, she certainly wasn't taking customers from a rural resident who doesn't have a computer either, right? So that was kind of a dumb argument. Besides, competition does exist in the marketplace....get used to it! The other argument, and the more valid one here, at the center of the rule itself, is the safety of this kind of thing. I have not seen the video but I'm guessing as long as she did not give out her address via the WWW or anything, and her parents knew about it, its probably just as safe as going door to door. The child's parent makes a great point-you want my daughter to learn sales and marketing, but you don't want to allow her to use CURRENT methods? Come on-very few salespeople are "door to door" anymore. Most use the Internet, mass mailings, email, YOU TUBE, etc to get info out-I mean, look at the last presidential election for an example of using technology to spread a message and create "customers." Now, GS says the program is designed to teach "face to face" sales and marketing techniques, and I get that, but the girl WAS doing that to "close" her sales-she was just using the Internet as a tool for online advertising. I think she is super-savvy and we will see her as a CEO one day! GS has simply got to get with the times and allow girls to use technological resources-in a safe, responsible way-to carry out the cookie program. And they wonder why membership is on a steady decline.....
http://www.newsweek.com/id/188714?GT1=43002
The article is right on! It talks about a girl in North Carolina who made a You Tube video advertising that she was selling cookies. She did not exchange money via the Internet in any way-folks were simply able to contact her and she would take the order and deliver the cookies in person. GS does have a rule about "online sales"-the rule is that they are not allowed. The controversy here is whether or not what she did fell into the sales or advertising category, and whether it was "fair" Because not all girls have computers and what about the rural areas, etc. Well, she certainly wasn't taking customers from a rural resident who doesn't have a computer either, right? So that was kind of a dumb argument. Besides, competition does exist in the marketplace....get used to it! The other argument, and the more valid one here, at the center of the rule itself, is the safety of this kind of thing. I have not seen the video but I'm guessing as long as she did not give out her address via the WWW or anything, and her parents knew about it, its probably just as safe as going door to door. The child's parent makes a great point-you want my daughter to learn sales and marketing, but you don't want to allow her to use CURRENT methods? Come on-very few salespeople are "door to door" anymore. Most use the Internet, mass mailings, email, YOU TUBE, etc to get info out-I mean, look at the last presidential election for an example of using technology to spread a message and create "customers." Now, GS says the program is designed to teach "face to face" sales and marketing techniques, and I get that, but the girl WAS doing that to "close" her sales-she was just using the Internet as a tool for online advertising. I think she is super-savvy and we will see her as a CEO one day! GS has simply got to get with the times and allow girls to use technological resources-in a safe, responsible way-to carry out the cookie program. And they wonder why membership is on a steady decline.....
http://www.newsweek.com/id/188714?GT1=43002
Dear American Idol, Please don't make me dump you.
OK, its that time again, and while I am still trying to emotionally recover from my last reality show abusive relationship with the Bachelor (What.A.Tool.) I've jumped into another one, with my old boyfriend American Idol. However, I may have to dump him, because he sucks. I have not blogged about the show so far-partially cause the Feds are visiting my office next week and I've been trying to make it appear that I know what I am doing at my job; and partially because I HATE HATE HATE this crappy Top 36 format where people only have one shot to get into the Top 12. There has been no time to get attached to any of the contestants, that is if you are like me and have not been blown away by the select few contestants who have been shoved down our throats by the producers (Danny Gokey, Adam Lambert, Lil Rounds). The ones that I LIKED from the Top 36 mostly did not make it through, particularly Ricky Braddy who went to Nashville's Belmont University (like Melinda Doolittle!). Seriously, that guy was certainly the best singer that we saw (sorry Gokey) and was pretty unceremoniously dumped on by all the judges but Paula for having "no personality." Ok, that ticks me off. Just because someone is reserved, conservative, shy, etc, does not mean they have NO PERSONALITY, or that they are "boring". That IS their personality. If that is not what the show is looking for, fine. Say that. Say, you're too shy for this show. But that's never what they say. They say the contestant is VOID of any personality simply because they are not over the top, loud, in your face unreasonably outgoing, or clinically insane (a la Tatiana del Crazy). I also liked Jesse Langseth (maybe this is because I knew she is Johnny Lang's sister and I luv him). The other Nashville contestants, Kristen McNamara and Anne Marie Boskovich, also failed to hit a home run with their ONE performance. Seriously, would David Cook have made it through with this format? His cover of "Hello" was his THIRD performance in the semi-finals.
So, I'm scared to get emotionally invested because it all just seems really contrived this year. It doesn't really matter who I like-Paula already gave us the spoiler on this week's show that its going to be a Danny vs. Adam finale. Where is the mystery? The suspense? The OMG will my favorite make it through? They've already told us they expect these two guys to be duking it out until the end, which just makes it a guessing game of what order the rest will fall. Its like it's your favorite scripted drama series (say, NCIS or something) but a major character gets killed off every week until there is no one left on the show at the end of the season and then they start over. Would you watch that? I wouldn't. And I may not watch this much longer either.
That being said...they are pulling out country week-make that Grand Ole Opry week, more specifically-very early this year. Its this coming week. Vote for the Worst has a list of songs it claims is the list that the Idols were given to choose from. Take a look here if you are so inclined.
http://www.votefortheworst.com/20090305/spoilers_upcoming_american_idol_8_theme_weeks
Apparently Randy Travis is the mentor. Which makes me scratch my head a little-considering that not one of the Top 13 this year was a "country" contestant, do any of them even know who Randy Travis is??? Anyway. Most people hate country week since usually there is only one country performer in the group. And, the rest of the group has to scramble to make something work. Last year's country week was specifically Dolly Parton week, and while that initially scared me to death, it ended up being pretty great. Most of the contestants did really original arrangements and it worked well. Of course, I have no idea if any of these years contestants possess the personal artistry or musical ability to pull that kind of musical makeover off since we've seen them perform, oh, all of twice so far. On the upside, that could make this performance-number 3-someones "Hello" of last season. My bet is on Kris Allen. I think he's the dark horse here-he's super cute, and while Simon never should have made the comment about hiding his wife (even though I think he was right), girls will like him and guys won't hate him (he's married, he's not a threat, lol). Plus, I was pissed that only Randy made any sort of reference to his arrangement on the song he sang last week for Jackson week. I think this may prove to be crash and burn week for quirky Megan, possibly Anoop (this would make me sad), and maybe even Allison "OMG she's just 16!" I think Kris and Gokey will be fine, as well as the JT lookalike Matt, and all have the best chance to do something nice musically with a recognizable song. This may even be Matt's breakout week if he picks the right song-I mean, country is really first cousins with blues, so he should be able to make this work easy. Sarver will be karaoke. Alexis and Lil are from Tennessee, albeit Memphis, so they've no doubt at least HEARD some country, and can likely pick a decent song (although if either one of them does I Will Always Love You I will HURL). I am hoping that Adam will tone it down about 14 notches this week and not scream at me and sing a nice ballad or Patsy Cline or something. Show those vocal chops that you have in a way that does not make me want to stuff my ears with cotton. And for the "blind guy" Scott-I think he's adorable but honestly not a good enough singer to last much longer. He'll be able to find a nice, message-y, piano country ballad and do fine, but I don't think Simon is going to be kind to him this week. Just a hunch.
Anyway, is it just me or does anyone else want to kick Idol to the curb this year?
So, I'm scared to get emotionally invested because it all just seems really contrived this year. It doesn't really matter who I like-Paula already gave us the spoiler on this week's show that its going to be a Danny vs. Adam finale. Where is the mystery? The suspense? The OMG will my favorite make it through? They've already told us they expect these two guys to be duking it out until the end, which just makes it a guessing game of what order the rest will fall. Its like it's your favorite scripted drama series (say, NCIS or something) but a major character gets killed off every week until there is no one left on the show at the end of the season and then they start over. Would you watch that? I wouldn't. And I may not watch this much longer either.
That being said...they are pulling out country week-make that Grand Ole Opry week, more specifically-very early this year. Its this coming week. Vote for the Worst has a list of songs it claims is the list that the Idols were given to choose from. Take a look here if you are so inclined.
http://www.votefortheworst.com/20090305/spoilers_upcoming_american_idol_8_theme_weeks
Apparently Randy Travis is the mentor. Which makes me scratch my head a little-considering that not one of the Top 13 this year was a "country" contestant, do any of them even know who Randy Travis is??? Anyway. Most people hate country week since usually there is only one country performer in the group. And, the rest of the group has to scramble to make something work. Last year's country week was specifically Dolly Parton week, and while that initially scared me to death, it ended up being pretty great. Most of the contestants did really original arrangements and it worked well. Of course, I have no idea if any of these years contestants possess the personal artistry or musical ability to pull that kind of musical makeover off since we've seen them perform, oh, all of twice so far. On the upside, that could make this performance-number 3-someones "Hello" of last season. My bet is on Kris Allen. I think he's the dark horse here-he's super cute, and while Simon never should have made the comment about hiding his wife (even though I think he was right), girls will like him and guys won't hate him (he's married, he's not a threat, lol). Plus, I was pissed that only Randy made any sort of reference to his arrangement on the song he sang last week for Jackson week. I think this may prove to be crash and burn week for quirky Megan, possibly Anoop (this would make me sad), and maybe even Allison "OMG she's just 16!" I think Kris and Gokey will be fine, as well as the JT lookalike Matt, and all have the best chance to do something nice musically with a recognizable song. This may even be Matt's breakout week if he picks the right song-I mean, country is really first cousins with blues, so he should be able to make this work easy. Sarver will be karaoke. Alexis and Lil are from Tennessee, albeit Memphis, so they've no doubt at least HEARD some country, and can likely pick a decent song (although if either one of them does I Will Always Love You I will HURL). I am hoping that Adam will tone it down about 14 notches this week and not scream at me and sing a nice ballad or Patsy Cline or something. Show those vocal chops that you have in a way that does not make me want to stuff my ears with cotton. And for the "blind guy" Scott-I think he's adorable but honestly not a good enough singer to last much longer. He'll be able to find a nice, message-y, piano country ballad and do fine, but I don't think Simon is going to be kind to him this week. Just a hunch.
Anyway, is it just me or does anyone else want to kick Idol to the curb this year?
Monday, March 2, 2009
Wow. Just Wow.
OK, so I have been off of the wagon lately when it comes to being a good blogger-so many things to write about, so little time! But reading this article on the Tennessean's website a minute ago made me come straight over to blogger to have a little chat with yall.
http://www.tennessean.com/article/20090302/NEWS0201/903020340?GID=B+KEZk89r0NJXGCVWrjuYySW15uYg7FJsL9k6SaKODM%3D
Seriously, please read this article, all five pages of it. I know it is long, but my blood is STILL boiling. So that you know what I'm getting you into here, the article is about a law proposed by two State Representatives from Memphis-one Democrat and one Republican-to prohibit unmarried couples from adopting children from state custody in Tennessee. I have no idea where to even begin on how sad this is for children in state custody who are adoptable (over 300 at the end of January, according to the article, and over 7,000 in state custody period, who may eventually be adoptable). Here's the thing folks: I am very familiar from a variety of work experiences with children in foster care. Many of them have special needs-mental, physical, both-and people are not lining up begging to become their parents. These are the "hard to place" children. The ones that have been left behind-by their own parents/families, by other foster parents, by the educational system....you name it. But many of them are loving, bright, beautiful children that want to have a family, and I am willing to go out on a limb and say that they would not be that picky about what kind of family they got, as long as they were loved.
So if a stable, qualified adult wishes to give one of these children a permanent, loving, stable home-I DO NOT CARE if that person is black, white, gay, straight, Christian, Catholic, Jewish, married, living in "sin", living alone, living with 2 cats and a goldfish-I want that child to have a permanent home. PERMANENCY is what is best for children.
Apparently these crazies from Memphis only think that straight, married couples are qualified to be parents. OH MY GOD. Seriously? Are we STILL on that "traditional" family model being the "be all, end all"? Because half of marriages end in divorce, guys. And what are we saying to all the kids who are being raised by non-married couples-or, my gosh, gay couples???? That their family is WRONG? See, that is what I think this is really about. I mean, why else target "non-married" couples, other than to target the folks who can't legally be married in the eyes of the law? These two men want to prevent gays from adopting because somehow they think the kids will catch it or something. Like gay is a disease. SERIOUSLY? While I am sure that avoiding giving children to heterosexual couples who just don't want to get married for whatever reason is an added bonus to these fools, the crux of the matter is that they don't think gay people should be allowed to have kids, and this is step one in preventing that from happening.
But where are we going to draw the line here? Because what will happen is that straight or gay non-married couples will start filing for adoption as singles. So are we then going to decide that singles can't adopt? Well I am single. Does that make me categorically unqualified to raise a child? What about my friends that are single moms? Do they need to worry that the state is going to come take their child and give it to a married couple so that the child will be raised in an acceptable family? Does being married to someone of the opposite sex suddenly make you a better parent?
The good news is that DCS doesn't support this, the Tn. Commission on Children and Youth doesn't support this-anyone who has seen the heartbreak of a child who only wants to be loved by someone-ANYONE-and taken in to a permanent home, seems to be against this.
I would invite Reps. Crazy and Crazier to spend a day talking with a children in state custody. Look through the "notebook" of children who are available for adoption-all 300+ and then tell every one of them that they must stay in foster care, never knowing if they will have a permanent home base to come back to after they graduate high school. Wondering what will happen to them the day they turn 18 and no one is legally responsible for them anymore. Wondering why no one loved them enough to make them their child.
Then tell that child that there were people who wanted him/her, but unfortunately they weren't married and its against the law. See if that child gives a hoot.
The best part? Neither of them would talk to the reporter about this story-one even going to far as to say that if you wanted to know his reasons for introducing the legislation, you could call his office and he would take you into his office privately and tell you his reasons. What a cowardly jerk.
I can't say anything else about this without having a coronary.
http://www.tennessean.com/article/20090302/NEWS0201/903020340?GID=B+KEZk89r0NJXGCVWrjuYySW15uYg7FJsL9k6SaKODM%3D
Seriously, please read this article, all five pages of it. I know it is long, but my blood is STILL boiling. So that you know what I'm getting you into here, the article is about a law proposed by two State Representatives from Memphis-one Democrat and one Republican-to prohibit unmarried couples from adopting children from state custody in Tennessee. I have no idea where to even begin on how sad this is for children in state custody who are adoptable (over 300 at the end of January, according to the article, and over 7,000 in state custody period, who may eventually be adoptable). Here's the thing folks: I am very familiar from a variety of work experiences with children in foster care. Many of them have special needs-mental, physical, both-and people are not lining up begging to become their parents. These are the "hard to place" children. The ones that have been left behind-by their own parents/families, by other foster parents, by the educational system....you name it. But many of them are loving, bright, beautiful children that want to have a family, and I am willing to go out on a limb and say that they would not be that picky about what kind of family they got, as long as they were loved.
So if a stable, qualified adult wishes to give one of these children a permanent, loving, stable home-I DO NOT CARE if that person is black, white, gay, straight, Christian, Catholic, Jewish, married, living in "sin", living alone, living with 2 cats and a goldfish-I want that child to have a permanent home. PERMANENCY is what is best for children.
Apparently these crazies from Memphis only think that straight, married couples are qualified to be parents. OH MY GOD. Seriously? Are we STILL on that "traditional" family model being the "be all, end all"? Because half of marriages end in divorce, guys. And what are we saying to all the kids who are being raised by non-married couples-or, my gosh, gay couples???? That their family is WRONG? See, that is what I think this is really about. I mean, why else target "non-married" couples, other than to target the folks who can't legally be married in the eyes of the law? These two men want to prevent gays from adopting because somehow they think the kids will catch it or something. Like gay is a disease. SERIOUSLY? While I am sure that avoiding giving children to heterosexual couples who just don't want to get married for whatever reason is an added bonus to these fools, the crux of the matter is that they don't think gay people should be allowed to have kids, and this is step one in preventing that from happening.
But where are we going to draw the line here? Because what will happen is that straight or gay non-married couples will start filing for adoption as singles. So are we then going to decide that singles can't adopt? Well I am single. Does that make me categorically unqualified to raise a child? What about my friends that are single moms? Do they need to worry that the state is going to come take their child and give it to a married couple so that the child will be raised in an acceptable family? Does being married to someone of the opposite sex suddenly make you a better parent?
The good news is that DCS doesn't support this, the Tn. Commission on Children and Youth doesn't support this-anyone who has seen the heartbreak of a child who only wants to be loved by someone-ANYONE-and taken in to a permanent home, seems to be against this.
I would invite Reps. Crazy and Crazier to spend a day talking with a children in state custody. Look through the "notebook" of children who are available for adoption-all 300+ and then tell every one of them that they must stay in foster care, never knowing if they will have a permanent home base to come back to after they graduate high school. Wondering what will happen to them the day they turn 18 and no one is legally responsible for them anymore. Wondering why no one loved them enough to make them their child.
Then tell that child that there were people who wanted him/her, but unfortunately they weren't married and its against the law. See if that child gives a hoot.
The best part? Neither of them would talk to the reporter about this story-one even going to far as to say that if you wanted to know his reasons for introducing the legislation, you could call his office and he would take you into his office privately and tell you his reasons. What a cowardly jerk.
I can't say anything else about this without having a coronary.
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