I spent my springbreak in Vegas, which sounds way too typical and it is. However, I can’t say I spent my days and nights getting wasted by either a pool or in some skyrise nightclub. I mostly spent it playing quarter slots with my boyfriend, lounging in the jacuzzi tub at the Palms, and getting boba in Chinatown.
I also acquired a headcold halfway through the trip and spent a good portion of my time eating spaghettio’s and watching The First 48 on a pull out couch in a condo in Mesquite, NV.
So, my 24th birthday is coming up and to be honest, I don’t like thinking about it much. I have no real problem with aging in itself, I just don’t like being reminded that I’m that much closer to death and I still have a lot of goals to accomplish.
It has, however, made me wonder about some of my fashion choices. In my very early 20′s I tried to tone down my appearance. I was a very flashy teenager, with colored hair, colorful accessories, mismatching patterns, knee-high socks, you name it. This, actually, is always how I’ve dressed. As a kid my older sister always used to tell me I reminded her of Punky Brewster with my inability to match, or at least my very little concern with making things match, and affection for colors/patterns.
Me at age 16.
When I hit 18 I did, as it seems a lot of people do, in thinking that I had to be “grown up” and abandon the things I used to do. I went with a neutral hair color, and stuck to solid and darker tones. Strangely enough, this was also the time in my life I was at one of my most self-conscious.
However, as I hit 23 and started to gain more confidence and really tried to enact the whole “self-love” journey, I found myself right back to where I was before. I was compelled to wear bright colors and flashy cocktail jewelry again.
And this month, I did this to my hair.
However, as 24 approaches I seem to question whether this is “okay”, which is kind of ridiculous. On the one hand, there’s still part of me that worries about being judged. As a journalism student, I wonder if I’ll be taken less seriously by my peers and especially my professors, who are all for the most part seasoned newspaper reporters.
On the other, and probably more important hand, I love the way I look. When I see myself in the mirror with this vibrant color in my hair, it makes me happy. When I’m wearing what I want and it stands out, I feel confident and upbeat, like I’m being me.
And as far as my future, my plan was always to be behind the camera anyhow, not front and center for CNN. I also was always more compelled towards alternative news sources.
I tried googling the situation out of curiosity to the kinds of discussions that were going on about it. Because when in doubt…Google. The thing I found funny was that it was often referred to as “dressing like a teenager”, which is slightly odd to me. I don’t see why one such style of dress or hair should be pinned for one such age-group. People go through phases and grow out of things, sure, but that is nothing more than a person experimenting and finding out that they felt much happier looking another way. What if a person finds they STILL remain happy with the style they’ve chosen in youth? What then? And perhaps, more people would remain in that style if they hadn’t been pressured to look more “conservative”.
I think the answer is that I need to just say “screw the world” and do whatever makes me happy.
As with my Halloween playlist, I put together a playlist of songs I feel fit the Christmas spirit but are maybe a lot less typical/less heard of. So, even if you hate Christmas music, you might actually like this playlist. Download and enjoy!
1. "Donde Esta Santa Claus" - Augie Rios
2. "Jingle Bell (acoustic)" - Miyavi
3. "No More Christmas" - Epik High
4. "Christmas Time is Here" - MercyMe
5. "Carol of the Bells" - Mae
6. "Star of Wonder" - Sufjan Stevens
7. "What Child, Nowell" - Tori Amos
8. "All That I Want" - The Weepies
9. "Rudolph The Red-nosed Reindeer" - The Temptations
10. "Christmas in Hollis" - RUN-DMC
I started off this entry as a review of Dumfoundeads new album (which I think is great, by the way, you should buy it) but sort of went off into a tangent about one of the songs I had a problem with. I decided it’d be better if I just dedicated the entry to it, since I obviously have a lot of thoughts on it.
The song is called “Bitch”.
Seeing the title alone made me cringe a little, but I was thankful to see it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. Despite that, it’s still not great.
This is one of those songs that paints the portrait of, if I can steal the usage from The Nostalgia Chick, a “charming bitch”. Usually seen in film, she makes an appearance in songs as well, like “Crazy Bitch” by Buck Cherry.
It’s the woman who is a complete psycho but men just can’t seem to stay away from her because she’s so damn sexy. This is problematic to me, for various reasons.
Not only is it objectifying a woman sexually, but objectifying a woman who might actually have a serious problem, yet it’s turned into a joke for the sake of entertainment. This is the same sentiment I’ve seen in men who claim that women who have been abused (usually physically or sexually) are better in bed, and also leads back to the “daddy issues” cliche.
I find it incredibly demeaning and sometimes just downright disgusting that we take serious mental and emotional issues that women might have and see it as a weakness that we can exploit, because it means she’ll not only fuck anything that moves, but be really good at it because she lacks self-confidence and has a skewered view of her sexuality as the result of abuse.
When did serious mental anguish and acting out become a punchline? Something that frat boys high-five each other over?
Why is it okay to look at this behavior and think “Oh, sweet, it’s going to be so easy to get into this girls pants and she’ll probably be an animal in the sack”, instead of the more helpful thought of “Wow, this girl might have some serious issues and maybe I should back off or be supportive of what she’s going through.” ?
I also think it’s sad that women often hear these songs and wear the title like a badge of honor. Okay, you’re crazy and you know it, that’s cool. Yet, believing that being insane somehow makes you more interesting and sexy is not really the way to go. These erratic traits aren’t to be celebrated; and contrary to popular belief, being as vile and ruthless as you can and embracing the fact you’re destructive and batshit crazy doesn’t make you a strong woman. Being a shitty person isn’t cool, as much as rock bands and rappers will tell you it is.
Denver had its annual Zombie Crawl yet again this year, taking place on October 22nd on the 16th street mall downtown. I was one of the many thousands of zombies in attendance, which the organizers are saying were 12,000 strong and are working with the people at Guinness to secure a world record.
So, enjoy some photos from the crawl, taken by yours truly.
I know I haven’t been around, but school tends to disrupt life like that. This time I bring you a Halloween playlist I put together myself! 35 songs in all, separated into two volumes. I took a lot of time and care in choosing the music, so I hope you get some enjoyment out of it
Tracklist:
1. The Gazette – “Erika”
2. Akira Yamaoka – “Promise (Reprise)”
3. One Missed Call Ringtone
4. Coraline Soundtrack – “Ghost Children”
5. Ghost Hunt Soundtrack – “Opening Theme”
6. Halloween Soundtrack – “Main Theme”
7. Dead Mans Bones – “Lose Your Soul”
8. Genesis – “Mama”
9. The Candy Spooky Theater – “Spooky Wonderland”
10. Henry Hall – “Here Comes The Boogey Man”
11. Napoleon XIV – “They’re Coming To Take Me Away”
12. Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds – “The Carny”
13. Jen Titus – “O Death”
14. The Omen Soundtrack – “Ave Santani”
15. Epic Torgo Theme
1. Reverend Horton Heat – “The Halloween Dance”
2. Tim Curry – “Anything Can Happen on Halloween”
3. The B52s – “Rock Lobster”
4. The Lonely Island Ft. Nicki Minaj – “The Creep”
5. LM.C – “Haunted House Make a Secret”
6. Rihanna – “Disturbia”
7. Mysto & Pizzi – “Somebody’s Watching Me”
8. The Widow’s Bane – “Haul Away, Boys!”
9. Rob Zombie – “Dragula”
10. The Misfits – “Dig Up Her Bones”
11. The Trax – “Vampire”
12. Creedence Clearwater – “I Put a Spell On You”
13. Panic! At The Disco – “This Is Halloween”
14. The Specials – “Ghost Town”
15. Will Smith – “A Nightmare On My Street”
I hit up my second Anime convention of this year, this time in my hometown of Denver. The last time I attended NDK, it was still relatively small and held at a hotel out by the airport. It has grown exponentially since then with thousands of attendees, events, and panels.
I was fortunate to catch both the AMV contest and the Cosplay contest, and impressed with those who entered both. You have to admire the kind of skill and time it takes to do some of the things these people do. Below are my own personal photos from the event. Enjoy!
I didn’t watch MTV’s VMA’s tonight, as I had better things to do like get on Tumblr. I did hear the news of Tyler The Creator winning best new artist, though. The fact that that particular award is voted for among the masses speaks a lot about the current state of pop culture.
If you’re unfamiliar with Tyler The Creator, it will depend on who you ask about him. One side will say he’s some new innovative and genius rapper, the other side (which includes myself) will just tell you he’s a whiny 20 year old who thinks joking about rape and using the word “faggot” is cool. He’s been rightfully criticized for shock-value laced music, which includes homophobia at its finest and tales of violent misogyny. If you want to see some of his “work”, youtube him, because I refuse to place that drivel on my blog.
And I was all set up to go ranting and raving about how prevalent rape culture still is in society and how I’m so fed up with sensationalized violence as a punchline, where straight white male dudebros who like this guy tell me to “lighten up” because apparently that shit is funny somehow.
But instead, I’m taking a more positive route and giving you a list of hip-hop artists I personally adore who I do not feel get enough credit, and who have messages that are the complete opposite of what Tyler The Creator expresses.
So without further ado and in no particular order ….
1. Dumbfoundead.
If the wittiness of his stage name doesn’t automatically grab at you, then his music will more than make up for it. Korean-american (and proud of it) Dumbfoundead started off as a freestyle battle MC, who has been getting more and more recognition as a legit artist, especially in underground hiphop circles and specifically that of asian and asian american hiphop. His voice is recognizable on any track, he’s quick and clever, and can go from serious to hilarious in a millisecond.
2. P.O.S
In a lot of circles, especially those keen to the Minneapolis scenes, P.O.S is already a legend. Raw emotion is intertwined through every song and word he produces. His passionate aggression to the utter baring of his soul…it’s hard not to feel something when listening to his music. I gained complete respect for him after not only seeing him live and feeding off that energy, but when he summed up his ideology as a rapper in one rhyme: “I’ll raise a black fist but won’t say “nigga” in the things I write. And I don’t say “faggot”, because I don’t think it’s right. I know my boy has struggled with that for over half his life.” Bam, instantly love this guy.
3.I suppose Public Enemy couldn’t be considered underrated because they’re revered as legendary in hiphop, but it’s always good to remember where you came from and remind younger generations of the greatness of things passed. Also, they’re STILL making awesome music, incase you didn’t know.
4. This is another one more exclusive to fans of Asian and Asian-american music, but Epik High is one of the few Korean acts that seems to transcend barriers of both race and language. Made up of two MC’s (one born and raised in Korea, one born but raised outside of Korea) and one DJ, I can’t even begin to describe my love for this group. They’re everything you could want, with poppy hits, gritty realism, political awareness, poetry, all of it is present in their music.
Though not an official number on the list, I really hope in my heart of hearts that kids like this will be apart of our next generation of music period. Seriously, look at him. He’s adorable, and he’s sticking up for his mom. What more could you want!?
So, maybe I’m late to talking about the film Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, but I want to talk about it now dammit! And how it relates to some recent thoughts I’ve had about nostalgia.
I’m not really going to get into the backstory of the film much, you should just go see it, because it’s awesome.
Unfortunately, it didn’t do too well at the box office. I still rage over the fact that it only made half as much as the trite and terrible parody film Vampires Suck did when they both came out around the same time. This just further proves to me that I hate the majority of people who go see movies these days, and the fact that movies like this exist in the first place. I mean, I love a good parody film, even some of the more stupid ones like Scary Movie and Superhero movie. Yet, for some reason, the particular band of individuals (who, for the record, also made Disaster Movie, Meet the Spartans, and Date Movie) are just REALLY, REALLY, REALLY bad and unfunny at what they do.
Ahem, okay, sorry for the tangent. Back on track!
Point is, it wasn’t a financial success, but a lot of people (myself included) still really enjoyed the film and called it the best of the year. However, I couldn’t help but notice a trend in the individuals that reviewed the film badly.
They were mostly if not all over 30, and seemed to scoff at it as some sort of fanboy wetdream film. One woman had the gall to call it “Twilight for boys”, and as being aimed at those one would consider a “man-child”. This was not only offensive because it simply wasn’t true, but the film is equally enjoyed and loved by girls and women, and features some pretty prominent and kickass female characters that are all at once awesome and identifiable.
And though I do not think you have to be under 30 to enjoy the film, I do think it’s a large part of why some critics didn’t like it. I know it’s cliche to say they didn’t “get it”, but that’s kind of how it seems?
To me, Scott Pilgrim vs. The World is a generation-defining film. It’s speaks for a certain time, a certain age group, and how they were thinking/feeling and what they were doing at that point in their life. Again, this doesn’t apply to everyone, but it does apply to a large majority. The humor is quick, sarcastic, and often quirky with a nerdy edge. It’s filled with references, it’s loud, it’s colorful, it jumps between feelings of passion and apathy, and it’s cemented by the music (as all good indicators of generations are).
It may not deal with heavy issues as with the case of films like Rebel Without a Cause, but it serves its purpose and does a great job at it.
That leads me to the second portion of my thoughts, with include the concept of nostalgia. First, I have to say what I believe generation Y to be. There is still no clear indicator of who exactly makes up generation Y, with sources claiming the birthdates to qualify as early as the late 1970s to as late as the early 2000′s. To me, this is inaccurate and FAR too broad. I have two older sisters born in the late 70′s and I do not consider us at all apart of the same generation. Likewise, I have a little sister born in 2003 and she is light years away from having the same upbringing as me. I speak for those who fall into my age-bracket, which would be those born in the mid to late 80s to the early 90′s. So, mostly those who grew up in the 90s as children (and part of the late 80s for some).
I believe we are a unique generation for one thing….the internet. We, quite literally, grew up with it. As the internet took over, expanded and matured…so did we, right along with it. The generation before us came into the internet later in life, and had a childhood without it for the most part. The generation after us will never know the world without the internet, and will have their first computers before they turn 2 years old.
But for us, we seem to have a foot in both doors. We lived in the days of VHS, basic cable, vinyl and cassette. Yet, we were young enough to immerse ourselves into the internet with relative ease and adapt to new technology quickly. From the time that the internet was readily available to the masses, it seemed the world took off at lightning speed since then. I don’t think any previous generations saw the changes happen as quickly as they do now, and I think this is the cause for our generations nostalgic yearnings.
Most individuals don’t seem to get that want for nostalgia until they’re at the very least, in their 30s. But those in their early 20′s are already longing for their childhoods even though they were just teenagers not too long ago. But if one thinks about the pace at which things changed for us, it’s no wonder we can become nostalgic so soon.
And nostalgic we are. Nickelodeon recently launched a line of programming featuring some of their most popular 90s shows played in re-runs late at night on TeenNick called “The 90s are All That”. Cartoons, movies, and toys from our youth are always making constant comebacks into the mainstream and loved by the same people who loved it before, more so than the young children it’s originally geared toward.
I feel this same sense of nostalgia is intertwined with Scott Pilgrim with its use of old school 32-bit video game references, AOL sound effects, bright aesthetics, and garage band music. And if you really want to get in-depth about it, I think it’s seen in Scott’s relationship with his girlfriend at the beginning of the film (and comics) Knives Chau. Scott is 22/23 at the time of the story, and Knives is only 17. Though only a 5 year age difference, his friends seem to react as if the years separating them were 10+. Maybe I’m reaching, but their attitude seems as if it could stem from the fact that, these days? So many things could happen in 5 years to shape and change the way people live, and make generation gaps seem that much wider. I’ve dealt with this personally as someone in her early 20s who has family members that are teenagers.
So this is my round-about way of saying that Scott Pilgrim is an amazing film. Not only because I think it was wonderfully shot (those creative and seamless scene transitions? The scenes from the comic used as backstory visual? Sound effect text? Come on!) hilarious, and just fun as hell to watch…but because I think it will become a film that is important to our generation in years to come. Someday, we’ll look back on it fondly, and our kids will be totally jealous they weren’t around to be apart of it.
The absence is due to the week-long vacation I took in Florida. No, not basking on sandy beaches, but spending time with good friends in a small southern town. It was really very relaxing and just what I needed before the new semester at school starts. Enjoy some documentation
