When one thinks of New Year’s Eve, the images of spectacular parties, champagne, and the magical kiss come to mind. In the first season of The Hills, Lauren Conrad tried to have it all on New Year’s Eve. Watch here:
Now we all know that The Hills is a staged show, even Lauren-substitute Kristin Cavallari admitted to this. But, I have to say that the first season seemed a little more… authentic (these are the pre-Spencer days). But, even this episode seems scripted… at least with the editing. The Lauren-Jason fight seems real, but that midnight kiss… Do you really think that Jason made it back in time for a 12:00am kiss? Or do you think his drunk *ss was late and MTV fabricated the times?
The Hills supposedly shows you a lifestyle - the partying, the fashion, the drama, and the fairytale-endings. And this episode had it all.
But is it realistic to expect so much on New Year’s Eve? Or does the grandeur of New Year’s Eve give people high expectations that set up some/many for disappointment?
Is the New Year’s Eve hype even worth it? The festivities of New Year’s Eve certainly spur economic activity and give many a reason to party. But, does the social pressure of having a memorable night as well as obnoxious drunkards wandering around negate the New Year’s Eve celebrations? You tell me.
With all this said, I had a wonderful New Year’s Eve. Nothing film-worthy but nonetheless fun. I hope you had an enjoyable New Year’s Eve. Oh and happy New Year!
And, I want to thank Bryan Dobrow for generously making a new (FREE!) banner for PolicyWithPop.com to celebrate the new decade! It looks awesome.
I won two advance screening tickets to an episode of Glee in LA last minute (I’ll blog about the episode in another post)! With a day and half to plan my unexpected trip from Nor Cal to So Cal, I decided to take a train. What I saw before attending the Glee screening was eye-opening and heartbreaking.
The train is a great way to travel. You get to sightsee without the hassle that comes with driving. The steady speed of the train also allows passengers (or at least me) to read, study or even write a blog post without getting a headache!
Anyway, my trip started at 6:40am at the train station. As my train was going through Sacramento, I unexpectedly saw several tents scattered in undeveloped lands. At first I thought it was a little odd to set up camp in Sacramento. But, then it hit me. I remembered reading about the prevalence of people living in tents because they could no longer afford living in a home during the recession. I never saw it in person before.
Sacramento was not the only area with families living in tents. As my train went down the Golden State, I continued to see tents. In distressed towns like Merced and Fresno, I saw rows of tents under bridges.
It definitely made me sad to see so many tents throughout California. I realized how blessed I am to have what I have. But, I also wondered what could be done to help those families. I thought about that during my trip.
When I arrived in LA a day before the Glee screening, I decided that I was going to see Precious: A Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire. Now I’ve wanted to see the movie for months, but after unexpectedly seeing families living in tents, I thought watching this film was timely. Here is the trailer for the movie:
Without giving away all the details, Precious is about the struggles of a poor, obese, illiterate, black teen-mom, who is raped by her father and abused by her mother. Intense. Not only do viewers see the startling assault Precious faces at home, but it exposes the cracks in our inadequate education and welfare system. Now this movie is set in the 1987 but the problems highlighted in Precious still seem to like issues today.
One fear that some have about a movie like Precious is that it is “poverty porn.” That type of movie is one in which the rich and middle class go see to watch a story about poverty/struggle and feel good about themselves for seeing such a movie. In the end, the poor person’s story is exploited and those who enjoyed the film ultimately leave without doing anything about the problems they are exposed to.
After watching Precious, I wondered what can be done to help those like Precious. It’s been two days since, and I’m riding the train back home, passing by those living in tents. Thinking up solutions about addressing the problems of poverty and abuse is a challenge. That’s why I’m hoping to figure it out with you.
As I return to Sacramento, California’s capital, I wonder what the government can do to assist those who have slipped through the cracks. What do you think the government can do? What should it do?
And, what can an individual do to help the poor or the abused? Should we all feel an obligation to help those in need? Or is it every man for himself?
In any case, not to get all Oprah on you, but you have to see Precious.
Congressman Aaron Schock’s abs is not the only strategy the GOP has to attract a following of The Young & the Republicans. Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele wants to attract youths by giving the GOP a hip-hop makeover… Yeah…
Well, 23 year old Peter Cowman has a different genre of music to reestablish the Republican Party.
Parodying Lady GaGa’s “Just Dance” is a creative way to slam Democrats with a familiar GOP attack - Democrats just tax and spend. Not only is the young Republican’s video gaining traction on YouTube, but his Congressman, Dave Reichert, proudly showed off the video at the weekly GOP conference meeting. Rep. Reichert wanted to highlight how Republicans can use young people and new media to appeal to new voters.
Do you think Cowman’s video is effective? Will it reach a new audience and pick up new Republican voters? Should the GOP adopt this type of media strategy? Or is it just a video some kid made?
What about the substantive argument itself? Do you think that Democrats are the party of tax and overspending? President Barack Obama’s party does not seem to mind increasing taxes on the rich and spreading the wealth. Is that a bad thing?
And are Republicans a little hypocritical for criticizing Democrats for overspending and taxing? When President George W. Bush and the Republicans were in power, they practiced deficit spending and nearly doubled the national debt to $10.7 trillion, which essentially is a tax on the future.
Under the guise of NTV, Newsweek magazine has decided to spoof MTV’s The City with The District. The “reality show” follows the challenges President Obama has in his first 100 days in office. Like the Whitney Port show, The District has various clips of Obama and others edited together to inform and entertain. It’s a great mix of policy with pop... Watch the inaugural episode here.
By the way, the Obama-sounding narrator is not really the President. It would be hilarious if the Obama actually took time out of his busy schedule to pull a Lauren Conrad. But the narration is performed by Iman Crosson. Pretty convincing if you ask me.
As each new episode of The District comes out, I will post it here on PolicyWithPop.com. So, watch it and let’s chat about The District.
Recent Comments