Hawking the Scene

Glee - April preview

I think I've watched this clip 20 times.  I'm excited for the return of Glee and especially excited for the Madonna episode.

"We're glitterati.  I feel like Lady Gaga." 

A Family Is A Family

I saw this trailer for the moving documentary, A Family Is A Family Is A Family and it reminded me of a conversation I had with a friend of mine two weeks ago.  My friend is in his early 20s and like most young adults, he has already set his maximum age of when he will have kids, how many he wants and the gender he prefers.  He also insists on his children being of his blood.  I was not immune to this mindset.

The older I became, the more I realized that I didn't want to be like my parents.  My mom was 17 and my dad 19 when they had my older brother.  It's not important for me to be a young dad.  It's more important for me to live my life and have kids when I am emotionally ready and financially stable to provide a good life for them.  If I followed in my father's footsteps, at 35, I'd have a 16-year old, a 13-year old and an 11-year old.  *shiver*  Not only would that have hindered my life goals, but it wouldn't have been fair to my kids.  My friend, though a fantastic uncle, is selfishly focusing on his needs and not the needs of his unborn children.

Growing up, it was always important to me to have children born of my blood.  Eventually I figured I'd have one child sharing my DNA and I'd adopt others as well because there are so many babies, children and even teenagers who need homes and a family to love and nurture them.  After living in Ukraine and volunteering in an orphanage, the importance of procreating has significantly diminished.  Why should I bring a new life into this world when there are so many others who already lack homes and families?  If I do decide to have children, I will most likely adopt.  Luckily I'm an uncle to three amazing nephews and one beautiful niece, so the duty of carrying on the bloodline has been completed.  

Regardless, as I said to my friend a couple of weeks ago, a family isn't defined by blood or DNA.  A family isn't defined by restrictive conditions.  A family is defined by love.  A family is a family.

**The documentary A Family Is A Family Is A Family airs Sunday, January 31, 7pm on HBO.  From the website:

In A Family Is Family Is A Family, kids offer touching, profound and often funny insights about what being a family means to them. Among those featured are: children with two fathers or two mothers; a girl whose mother and father adopted her in China; three brothers who live with their mother and grandmother; a pair of mothers who are getting married to make one big family; and families with adopted kids and children born through in-vitro fertilization.

Lianne and Katia think a family is a mommy and a daddy. Franklin says a family is "a bunch of people that live together for their life." Kennan and Adam are nearly stumped trying to name all the possible combinations of parents and kids. Becky sums it up best, saying, "It doesn't matter if you have one parent. It doesn't matter if you have two moms. It doesn't matter if you have two dads. Just stick with it. A family is a family."

7 Years of Buffy in Under 4 Minutes

One of the best shows every created?  I think so!  And don't forget to check out Edward Cullen stalking Buffy!

Now who wants to buy me the Buffy iPhone skin?

Jersey Shore Cast Members Makes Fun of Themselves. That's The Situation.

Our favorite orange-faced fist pumpers are at it again, but this time they're making fun of themselves.  And that's the situation.

True Blood & Depeche Mode "Corrupt"

HBO released this promo video featuring a montage of clips from season two of True Blood as well as some beautifully shot scenes of the cast.  Depeche Mode's single Corrupt accompanies the video quite nicely.

Now who is ready for the season finale of this amazing show?

10 New Shows I'm Excited About This Fall

I'm excited about the networks' upcoming Fall season.  ABC seems to be heavy on the dramas while NBC is relying on sitcoms for their ratings.  Though mostly original shows, some seem to be relying on ideas that have worked in the past.  Fast Forward appears to be banking on the popularity of Lost with their flash forwards.    100 Questions pulls its format from Friends.  Vampire Diaries is hoping to tap into the Twilight  fan base.  And Parenthood is based off the film with the same name.

Though not conclusive, these are the ones that have caught my attention so far.  Watch them and let me know what you think.  In no particular order:

1.)  GLEE (Fox)

"You think this is hard? I'm living with hepatitis, that's hard."

2.)  Vampire Diaries (CW)

"The battle for her soul begins with her heart."

3.)  Fast Forward(ABC)

"For 2 minutes and 17 seconds, 7 billion people blacked out."

4.)  V. (ABC)

"The world's in bad shape right now, Father, who wouldn't welcome a savior right now?"

5.)  Cougar Town(ABC)

"Look at that cute guy right there.  I'd like to like to lick his body."  

"That's my son."  

"Oh.  He looks smart!"

6.) Community (NBC)

"Oh, jeez, I'm sorry.  Uh, I was raised on TV and I was conditioned to believe that every black woman over 50 is a cosmic mentor ."

7.)  100 Questions (NBC)

"In 1775, cancer of the scrotum was a common disease among chimney sweeps."

8.) Parenthood (NBC)

"Do you think it's cool if we hang out, even though I'm 'quasi' engaged?"

9.)  Modern Family (ABC)

"We initially asked one of our lesbian friends to be a surrogate, but then we figured, they're already mean enough, can you imagine one of them pregnant?  No thank you.  Ick."

10.)  Day One (NBC)

"You can't pick your neighbors." 

 "I did.  I chose each and every one of you.  Together we're going to save this world."

The Cleveland Show Trailer

Stewie says in the trailer, "What the hell?  HE'S getting his own show?"  I felt the same exact way when I found out that one of my least favorite Family Guy characters was getting a spin-off.  After watching the trailer, I have to say that the show looks better than what I thought it would look like and I'll definitely be giving it a chance.  

What do you think?

Edward Cullen Stalks Buffy Summers...

...and we all know how that ends.

I make no secret of my love of all things vampire.  But Joshua McIntosh, of Rebellious Pixels, put together a brilliant and funny short of what would happen if Buffy Summers meets Edward Cullen, focusing on Buffy's dismissiveness and Edward's bizarre lurking nature.

In McIntosh's own words:

It’s an example of transformative storytelling serving as a visual critique of Edward’s character and generally creepy behavior. Seen through Buffy’s eyes some of the more patriarchal gender roles and sexist Hollywood tropes embedded in the Twilight saga are exposed in hilarious ways.

The Best of Ralph Wiggum

Ralph has always been my favorite character on The Simpsons.  With lines like, "Me fail English, that's unpossible," "This tastes like grandma" and "I eated the purple berries..they taste like burning," how can you not love him?  Enjoy the Best of Ralph Wiggum.

"I'm a unitard."

Reality TV Religiosity

“Please God, let me win the food challenge.”  “If it was in God’s plan, I would have come in first place.”  “God won’t let her win because she’s evil and goodness always wins out over evil.”  These are just a sampling of the many phrases I’m tired of hearing on reality TV. 

Reality TV “stars” often spend more time asking for God’s intervention than they do actually  playing the game or enjoying the experience.  If only they devoted that much brain time to the game, they might actually win a challenge instead of excusing themselves by claiming “God’s Will.”  I watched in horror as Big Brother 8’s Jameka, and newly-born Amber, spent hours praying to God and asking Him to use His super powers so that they could win the food challenge.  I was so completely insulted that they had the audacity to ask God to help them win a challenge in a game while the world is plagued with famine and war, and the diseased. 

Many of these reality shows are built around dishonesty and deception and the self-proclaimed Christians on these shows rarely hesitate to compromise their faith by participating in antics meant to manipulate and humiliate their fellow mates to further their own cause.  These so-called Christians are quick to judge people and condemn others to Hell while ignoring their own sacrilege.  I don’t even have the column space to get started on the crazy religious lady on Wife Swap.

In I’m a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here, Spencer and Heidi stopped just short of proclaiming themselves warriors of Jesus, invoking His name whenever they thought they were on camera.  Heidi says that she wants to be like Mother Theresa, who didn’t need material possessions. Shortly after, Spencer was “baptized” in a river by Stephen Baldwin and proclaimed that he was a changed man and felt all the sin washed off him.  Maybe I should start swimming in muddy rivers with Stephen Baldwin.  Janice Dickinson finally stated what we at home were thinking all along, “I didn’t realize I was signing up for I’m a Holy Roller, Get Me Out of Here.”  Later, Heidi and Spencer “quit” the game because they’re too rich and too famous (I just recently found out who they are) to be in the jungle.  So much for Heidi mirroring Mother Theresa.

Sadly, these are who represent the majority of “God’s Children” in America.  They’re the worst kind of Christians.  They’re the ones who ask for everything and give nothing back.  They’re lazy and they pray for selfish, material goods without giving back, helping their community or contributing anything positive in return.  Instead of praying for guidance or for answers, they pray for cash and cars.

A-list celebrities are not immune to praising God’s name, either.  They often thank God for winning their awards. They might think by mentioning God, they’ll be perceived as good people, but what it says to me is, “God cares more about me because He made me rich and famous.  He even gave me an award for it.  Too bad you’re not rich and famous like I am.  Sorry, God loves me more.”  But what I also hear is, “I actually have no talent, which is why God had to intervene in this famine-plagued world to give me an award.”

Your relationship with God or Allah or Buddha or Shiva is your own.  Stop invoking His/Her/Their name on TV for your own selfish advancement.  Because if there is a God and He is watching…He’s awfully ashamed.

 

**While I’m not religious, I have a religious background.  I grew up Catholic, I went church every Sunday and attended Confraternity of Christian Doctrine (CCD) classes, religiously (no pun intended).  I went to Catholic school in 5^th grade and even had the “privilege” of being an altar boy bestowed upon me.  But I eventually started asking questions of my baptized faith and when it came time to make my Confirmation at 13-years old, I told my mom, “How can I choose my religion for the rest of my life when I don’t even know what I’m going to wear to school tomorrow?”  Luckily, my mom understood and allowed me to be the first person in my entire extended family to skip my Confirmation.  I went on to study religions of the world and am happy I didn’t confirm myself to Catholicism, or any organized religion, for that matter.