A Whole Lotta Whatever

Today, I will rant and rave about all sorts of things; nothing particularly important to anyone but me (and maybe you, because otherwise, why are you still reading?)

Entertainment (and I use the term loosely)
I'm a bit behind on my Oscar preparation. I just read today that there aren't the usual number of songs nominated for best song. Clearly, someone at the Academy was scrapin' the bottom of the barrel, because . . . one of the songs nominated is, "It's Hard Out Here for a Pimp." Really. How hard is it? If I may illustrate what the hell is wrong with this picture, here are some past winners in the Best Song Category:

• 1935: "Lullaby of Broadway"
• 1939: "Over the Rainbow"
• 1940: "When You Wish Upon a Star"
• 1942: "White Christmas"
• 1944: "Swinging on a Star"
• 1947: "Zip-a-Dee-Do-Dah"
• 1949: "Baby, It's Cold Outside"
• 1950: "Mona Lisa"
• 1955: "Love is a Many-Splendored Thing"
• 1956: "Whatever Will Be, Will Be (Que Sera, Sera)"
• 1959: "High Hopes"
• 1960: "Never on a Sunday"
• 1961: "Moon River"
• 1963: "Call Me Irresponsible"
• 1964: "Chim Chim Cher-ee"
• 1966: "Born Free"
• 1967: "Talk to the Animals"
• 1969: "Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head"
• 1971: "Theme from Shaft"
• 1973: "The Way We Were"
• 1976: "Evergreen"

Do you see where I'm going with this? Granted, once we get into the '80s, there are winners that probably made my grandmother cringe, like "Fame", "Flashdance", and "Take My Breath Away" and yes, Eminem's "Lose Yourself" also won Best Song in 2003. However. If I may, ladies and gentlemen, the lyrics from "It's Hard Out Here for a Pimp":

[Chorus 2X: Shug - singing] + (Djay)

You know it's hard out here for a pimp (you ain't knowin)

When he tryin to get this money for the rent (you ain't knowin)

For the Cadillacs and gas money spent (you ain't knowin)

[1] Because a whole lot of bitches talkin shit (you ain't knowin)

[2] Will have a whole lot of bitches talkin shit (you ain't knowin)

[Djay]

In my eyes I done seen some crazy thangs in the streets

Gotta couple hoes workin on the changes for me

But I gotta keep my game tight like Kobe on game night

Like takin from a ho don't know no better, I know that ain't right

Done seen people killed, done seen people deal

Done seen people live in poverty with no meals

It's fucked up where I live, but that's just how it is

It might be new to you, but it's been like this for years

It's blood sweat and tears when it come down to this shit

I'm tryin to get rich 'fore I leave up out this bitch

I'm tryin to have thangs but it's hard fo' a pimp

But I'm prayin and I'm hopin to God I don't slip, yeah

[Chorus]

[Djay]

Man it seems like I'm duckin dodgin bullets everyday

Niggaz hatin on me cause I got, hoes on the tray

But I gotta stay paid, gotta stay above water

Couldn't keep up with my hoes, that's when shit got harder

North Memphis where I'm from, I'm 7th Street bound

Where niggaz all the time end up lost and never found

Man these girls think we prove thangs, leave a big head

They come hopin every night, they don't end up bein dead

Wait I got a snow bunny, and a black girl too

You pay the right price and they'll both do you

That's the way the game goes, gotta keep it strictly pimpin

Gotta have my hustle tight, makin change off these women, yeah

[Chorus]

Now. I am all for freedom of speech. I own 2 Black-Eyed Peas CDs. I once owned the Beastie Boys' Ill Communication CD (until my ex-husband sold it, but that's another story.) I'd like to think I'm not the whitest white woman who ever lived. I understand that music is often a reflection of the culture from which it comes. So, does that mean I'm really just an old cranky woman who would have banned Catcher in the Rye had I been a librarian some50-odd-years ago? (God I hope not.) But really. Don't we have enough problems with violence against women, and just, well, women being looked at as something other than "bunnies" or "hoes" to nominate a song that is all about selling women!??!!? I am going to move on to a new rant, because I'm fearing I'm neither articulate, nor interesting - just yammering on like some old out of touch bat. Maybe I'm missing the point of the song and it's really a social commentary on how some people's lives are so difficult that we can't even begin to understand? Or, is it just about how hard it is to be a pimp? And then, am I politically incorrect and intolerant if I don't feel a whole lot of sympathy for the pimp? Maybe you need to see the movie.

Fashion & Politics

Check it out: a new line of jewelry that consists of (among other things) expired birth control pills. Genius. Make a fashion statement AND a political statement at the same time.

I've Seen the Future (and it ain't pretty)

While paging through my Lucky magazine yesterday (the magazine is overrated; the Lucky shopping manual book, on the other hand, a must-have), I learned that: the '80s are back. Why is this necessary? I barely escaped unscathed the first time. If getting a perm that makes your hair fall out in big clumps (circa 1986) or a "spiral perm" in which the solution burns little angry red holes in your skin (circa 1989) wasn't traumatic enough the first time around, well, count me out. Leggings are back. Not legwarmers (although based on Madonna's performance at the Grammy's maybe they are back?), but leggings. Cripes. My 18-year-old-ass did not look good in leggings, and my 35-year-old-ass is somehow supposed to pull this off? Not likely. What's next, the return of the banana clip as a legitimate fashion choice?

More on Politics and Movies

Last weekend, we rented "Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room" - just in case you're not feeling enraged enough on a daily basis, rent this little documentary. You might want to have a bottle of wine (or three or seven) handy, though.

Speaking of politics, I found a new blog that I like very much: The Left End of the Dial. Dr. Benjamin's "Periodic Musings" included a link to The Political Compass, another site which I like very much. Take the Political Compass assessment and let me know how you do. Me? I'm a -6.75 Economic Left/Right) and a -6.56 (Social Libertarian/Authoritarian.)

I Feel Vindicated (Not Violated, Vindicated)

Yesterday, the same colleague who bought me the Miracle Jesus Action Figure came to my class to do a stint as her fabulous self explaining Masters and Johnson's Human Sexual Response cycle. Inappropriate brother and sister are back sitting together (very closely, I might add) and ta-da!!! Was I not right? She thought they were a couple. Not siblings. So there. It is not just me and my sick, perverted mind.