The VMAs an exercise in vulgarity, obscene gestures and lack of class!

Every year I don't even know about MTV Video Music Awards being aired until all media lets loose on what was shocking and then everyone everywhere starts talking about it. So this year when I heard that the VMA were being aired that same evening, I decided to check them out myself.

Although the MTV VMAs have acquired the reputation of always bringing something more appalling and incredulous each subsequent year, this year they just hit the lowest of lows by picking Miley Cyrus as the host. Her ability to do outrageous things at 22 is already legendary.

The show kicked off with Nicki Minaj's performance, which involved gyrations and over sexualized gestures and dance moves.... I had a feeling it was going to go down from there.....
Miley Cyrus' wardrobe if that word can even be used for what she barely covered herself in... Cellophane with strategically placed plastic m&ms or something like that... A white cut-out dress which had more cutout then material... basically they managed to cover just enough to slip by the censor board!
Other performances were in the same vein but fell a little short of the initial vulgarity, with Demi Levato acting so proud of her barely covered butt by jutting it out at Iggy Azalea.

To sum it up, the level of obscene comments, dance moves and the extreme sexualization of women is very saddening... Seeing these women gyrating in minimal clothing and appearing self confident left me confused and wondering, do they really feel self-accomplished by this? For me real talent shouldn't need shedding of clothing or modesty to make a mark... maybe I am wrong but I find it difficult to respect these barely clad girls and women as real talented artists....
But again that's just me.

Best act of the evening: The Weeknd performing "Can't feel my face" alone on stage .











Even Madonna's "Like A Virgin" video  broke all barriers of decency then, now seems innocent and decent nowadays!!

A song for posterity by Bob Dylan: Forever Young

Nowadays if we actually listen to most songs, we realize that few mean anything. There is often a lack of depth and actual meaning to the words, mostly dwelling upon love, breakups, love and some more breakups.... That is why when I read the lyrics of 'Forever Young' by Bob Dylan I was mesmerized by each beauty of each line. The more I listen to it the more I realized that this song said  everything that I would wish upon my sons but said with such gentleness and sincerity. It encompasses not just good luck and good fortunes but hopes for good judgement, good morals, principles, and good deeds.
It is just the perfect song to dedicated to our children and their children and their children and so on..May God bless them all.

FOREVER YOUNG (Bob Dylan)

May God bless and keep you always,
May your wishes all come true,
May you always do for others
And let others do for you.
May you build a ladder to the stars
And climb on every rung,
May you stay forever young,
Forever young, forever young,
May you stay forever young.

May you grow up to be righteous,
May you grow up to be true,
May you always know the truth
And see the lights surrounding you.
May you always be courageous,
Stand upright and be strong,
May you stay forever young,
Forever young, forever young,
May you stay forever young.

May your hands always be busy,
May your feet always be swift,
May you have a strong foundation
When the winds of changes shift.
May your heart always be joyful,
May your song always be sung,
May you stay forever young,
Forever young, forever young,
May you stay forever young.


Here is a lovely cover of the song by Audra Mae & The Forest Rangers

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Thank you Zach Sobiech!

As 2013 comes to a close, every television channel is coming up with all kinds of lists of the best, the worst, the coolest, the most impressive, etc... Of all the lists I have so far seen, Zach Sobiech from Minnesota stood out as the most inspiring.
Zach Sobiech was diagnosed with osteosarcoma at age 14 in 2009. Osteosarcoma is an aggressive form of bone cancer that affects mostly children. As he went through a long series of surgeries and several rounds of chemotherapy, Zach chose to deal with this stressful period by writing songs, singing and making a band 'A Firm Handshake' with friends.
In May 2012, Zach's osteosarcoma was found to have spread further and doctors informed him and his family that he had just about an year to live. It is during that time he wrote this beautiful song called 'Clouds'. With the help of their local radio station KS95 Zach was able to record the song and make a video of it, which was put on Youtube in December 2012. The sincere poignancy of the lyrics and the sweet catchy tune of the song very quickly captured the hearts of so many viewers that the video had more then 3 million views when Zach passed away on May 20th 2013, two weeks after his eighteenth birthday.
In his short yet purposeful life, not only Zach showed patience, strength and optimism, but he also dedicated efforts to set up 'The Zach Sobiech Osteosarcoma Fund at Children’s Cancer Research Fund. He had proceeds from his music and fundraisers in his honor to the fund, so that other children may have a better fighting chance against osteosarcoma.
Here is his song 'Clouds'



In the end, I would like to thank Zach for reminding all of us how foolish it is to let petty little problems in our daily life bring us down when there so much to bring us up up up!
Rest In Peace dear Zach Sobiech.

P.S:
Zach Sobiech Osteosarcoma Fun ( Children's Research Fund)
My Last Days: Meet Zach Sobiech (Youtube)
Osteosarcoma(NIH)
Transcript: Zach Sobiech on CNN's 'Extraordinary People'
 

Any moral compass for Facebook in this case?

The recent string of headlines, about Facebook and its wavering decision on allowing graphic beheading videos, have been somewhat perturbing. My question : Is there any moral compass influencing these flip flop decisions?

I am starting to think 'No this has nothing to do with moral values and everything to do with Facebook's business savvy and their fear of losing customers'. Here are some of those confusing headlines, now you can decide for yourself.

Facebook U-turn after charities criticise decapitation videos   (BBC World-May 1, 2013)

Facebook has said it will delete videos of people being decapitated which had been spread on its site.

"We will remove instances of these videos that are reported to us while we evaluate our policy and approach to this type of content," it said. (Full story)
Outrage erupts over Facebook's decision on graphic videos  (CNN Money-October 23, 2013)
Facebook has stirred up a storm with a controversial decision to lift a ban on violent videos, including beheadings. A temporary ban on graphic content was imposed in May following complaints about videos which depicted people being decapitated. Facebook removed the reported videos and said it was reviewing its policy on this type of graphic content. Now the company has relaxed its stance. It will allow violent content such as beheadings to be published, provided the intent is to raise awareness rather than celebrate violence. (Full Story)
Facebook removes beheading video, updates violent images standards (NBC News-Oct. 23,2013)

Facebook Inc removed a video of a woman being beheaded from its website on Tuesday and said it would use a broader set of criteria to determine when gory videos are permitted on the site. The move came a day after a public outcry over news reports that Facebook, the world's No. 1 social network with 1.15 billion members, had lifted a temporary ban on images of graphic violence. (Full Story)

Facebook defends allowing beheadings footage to continue (BBC World-November 19, 2013)

Facebook will continue to allow users to show footage of beheadings as long as it is posted in "the right context", MPs have heard. The social network site has been criticised for allowing such images to be shown, amid warnings they could cause psychological damage. Facebook's UK and Ireland policy director Simon Milner said the footage could expose human rights abuses. There would also be "more prior warnings" on content, he added. But the Incorporated Society of British Advertisers (ISBA) accused Facebook of lacking a sense of "responsibility". The US-based company introduced a temporary ban on decapitation clips in May, but announced last month that it believed users should be free to watch them. (Full Story)

What do you think now?

The lines are blurred in far too many ways!!

Wondering what I am talking about, it's sleazy Robin Thicke's summer hit " Blurred Lines". Yes, that supposedly upbeat party song, which was blasted by almost all radio stations all summer long. Everyone seemed to love it, but how many of you actually listened to what was being said in the song? If you did, believe me you probably wouldn't want your sons and daughters listening and singing along to this clearly obscene song. I am saying that because I actually read the lyrics to the whole song.
The reason I did that is I learned to pay attention to lyrics when I became a mom to three boys. I like listening to all kinds of music when driving, I love jamming my favs on the radio when going on long drives. Honestly speaking, I didn't really pay attention to the lyrics of the songs, if they had a fun beat, nice rhythm I'd put it on, without a thought. Then one day I heard my preschooler trying to sing along with Lil Jon's song " Get low", I was mortified!! That was not the kind of song a preschooler should be singing! I started paying attention to the words of the songs , there were far too many channels playing songs with sexually charged lyrics, the more I became conscious of the content of songs the more I was shocked. Hence I decided to listen to NPR or my own selection of music CDs mostly, and only sometimes to songs ( I knew lyrics to) on other radio channels.

So when this summer " Blurred lines" was playing in every possible place, I was very worried to notice that few seemed to even realize how obscene and disturbingly graphic the lyrics were and had lyrics insinuating that aggression and violence go along with consensual sex and relationships. I started asking myself, is our society so immune to such blatant social degradation?

Then today I saw The Guardian news headline "Blurred Lines: the most controversial song of the decade" and as I read on, the news piece was about the song being banned by University College London student union thus joining some 20 other such student bodies in the UK. It also mentions outcry by several US organizations such as Slutwalk about the explicit and violent nature of the song's lyrics. It was a relief to know that others besides myself had issues with this song, others were also worried to see the immunity of the public to songs. There are still people and organizations out there fighting to uphold certain levels of decency, morality and civility. There is hope!

The full article in The Guardian

Blurred Lines: the most controversial song of the decade

The Power Of Words

I recently watched the video for Emeli Sandé's new song "My Kind Of Love". I have always enjoyed her voice, which is intense and beautiful, but this song came with just as nice a video.

It starts off with bullets hitting a car's windshield. It took me a few seconds before I realized what was really being shot, it wasn't bullets but words, words full of anger, hatred, meanness, and indifference. As I watched the video the Spanish proverb  'A word from the mouth is like a stone from a sling.' came to mind. Think of all the times carelessly spoken words have lead to pain, anguish, heartbreak, despair, hopelessness, anger, and many a times ended precious relationships and friendships.

We all have been at the receiving end of such verbal attacks and remember most of those occasions vividly, but sadly enough we have been at the shooting end too and yet rarely remember those reckless moments. Usually when dealing with strangers I am more careful with my words. On the other hand, when angry with someone I care about, I have to admit that I get quite mean and petty, I say things I know will get to the other person and probably hurt them and at that moment that is my intention. Even though later I only feel emotionally drained, tired, guilty and full of regret.

In my efforts to become a better and wiser person, over the years I have learned to change my arguing tactics, so now instead of lashing out without restrain when mad I try to get up and walk away as soon as I detect that anger rising in me. When possible I actually go walk outside which is great, it takes the rage out of me, and it allows me to think out how to get just my point across and not have it lost in a barrage of words shot out uselessly. Do I do it everytime? No I don't but I try and will keep on training myself to do it.
All I need, we all need to remember is "nescit vox missa reverti" (A word once spoken can never be recalled.)
I agree and therefore I will strive to use my words more wisely and constructively, and I will try to teach this to my sons too and save them loads of guilt and regret.
Here is the video " My Kind of Love"