Wednesday, February 28, 2007

Comic Right...Negative/Positive

I was taking a stroll today when an interesting thought popped into my head, “are comedians really funny at all when it comes to hot topics?” I guess this thought was mingling somewhere in my subconscious since I was surfing the net and chatting with my friend Sean last night when I came across a clip of this comedian downgrading members on this season of American Idol. Thinking that some of what he was saying was funny, I sent Sean a link to this “YouTube” clip and he found that this comedian had a Myspace page. Sean sent me a link to this guy’s page and I found continuous clips of this guy’s negative connotations towards many different people including Oprah. After seeing the Mother of All Talk Shows’ –Oprah, for all you non Oprah watchers- picture come up –knowing that I would get upset- I immediately closed the page and continued on with my night not giving it much more thought.

So today I thought to myself, how funny are comedians when it comes to today’s sensitive subjects? Is it still a racist comment when a comedian says it? Or is a negative comment, a negative comment no matter who states it? A few months ago Michael Richards (former actor on the hit T.V. show, Seinfeld) blurted out some bigoted comments to some audience members who were haggling him and it made national news. Critics argued that because Richards was actually upset and the remarks weren’t in the context of a joke it was therefore negatively racially motivated. Do you buy that? It seems kind of juvenile to me, let’s make it a little more clear shall we… I can call you a “nigger” as long as I am joking around but if I use the same word in a more serious conversation then the word becomes a negative racist remark? Nope! Still not buying it.

Friends it’s really hard not to laugh at things we think are funny (be they positive or negative) and while comedian intentions when using negative terminology might be pure, it’s still negative. Many of us fall short in this category including myself who is probably one of the most positive people you know. The reality of it all is that our words define who we are no matter our position in society. Look at the mess many of our government officials are in due to their words. We can’t put a cloak on negativity and call it comic right and hope that cloak makes it positive, because it really doesn’t. One of the problems with our society today is that we have too much of it going on. We indulge ourselves in the B.E.T. Network’s program Comic View and double over in laughter at black people making fun of inner-city schools and degrading women when the reality of it is that the drop out rates in inner-city schools are continuously increasing and black women no matter how much you say it are not bitches and hoes. We ache in laughter at Comedy Central programs like The Colbert Report when it makes homophobic comments when the reality of it all is that one out of three kids who commit suicide do so because of being homosexual…still funny? I’m guilty just as you are and am still working on my positive outlooks on life. A friend of mine told me that I have to take it all with a grain of salt but honestly, high blood pressure kills.

Seek Peace

Tuesday, February 27, 2007

Mr. Josh Groban

Last Saturday I had the wonderful privilege of attending a concert by the one and only Josh Groban. Now I’ve paid extreme homage to Joshua Bell in a past post but he couldn’t seriously touch Josh Groban at all! I bought the tickets about a month and a half before the concert and the days slowly passed. I was so extremely nervous about attending the concert partly because so many people have told me that they’ve been disappointed after attending a concert because their artists don’t sound as good in person. I’m happy to say that it wasn’t the case with my Josh. He was extremely funny and very excellent, but beyond all of that this was both a positive and entertaining experience for me.

After leaving the concert and waiting in the cold for a taxi, I realized that I had just attended a huge concert and it was a supremely positive experience. I didn’t have to worry about people getting drunk and falling over nor did I have to worry about a song full of foul language or people around me expressing themselves through foul language. It was again a very positive and inspiring experience. I would sincerely ask all those who view this blog to immediately close this page and find some of his wonderful music, enjoy it, and believe me it will help you in your hopefully continuous quest to…

Seek Peace

Wednesday, February 21, 2007

Gay Weddings

I was watching an African American gay comedian last night on Logo (a gay and lesbian T.V. network) and –though it was a joke- he made a statement that was pretty interesting, “why do homosexuals keep inviting me to their weddings, I can’t get married so why would I want to attend theirs?…If it was 1950 I wouldn’t want to go watch them vote!” I thought about that statement for a while and asked myself if there was any logic behind it. Would attending and supporting heterosexual marriage somehow support the discrimination we –homosexuals- are shown? I mean, like he said, we wouldn’t go with white people to vote when African American’s were denied that right.

Going along with the theme of this blog, I guess I would say that we should attend the weddings in support of our loved ones on a very special day in their lives. Many of my friends would probably say that I’m ridiculous for even stating such a thing but again it is worth mentioning. I am not at all in support of discrimination so I can’t help but feel kind of hypocritical going along with heterosexual marriage; after all would you eat at a diner if African Americans were the only race allowed to eat outside of their homes?

I do fell sad when I see heterosexual couples getting married but I believe my heart would be even more sore if I thought I hurt a loved one by not attending their ceremony. As stated, he made a very interesting statement and one that I have give much thought. I take my hat off to those heterosexual couples who stand and say that they would never get married until everyone is allowed that right and I know that all heterosexual couples aren’t that strong or don’t feel that strongly about the subject. So in conclusion, will I attend a heterosexual wedding? Probably…


Seek Peace Friends!

Wednesday, February 14, 2007

Attack On Gay Marriage

I was reading this article a few minutes ago that attacked gay marriage: http://www.townhall.com/columnists/GregoryKoukl/2007/02/11/same-sex_marriage_%e2%80%94_challenges__responses

Maybe I’m a drama queen but it really hurts my heart to see the amount of hate that exists out there in our world. Now you’re probably thinking that I should be used to it by now especially seeing it face to face working with Fair Wisconsin, but I don’t really believe one could ever get used to it. The writer was so condescending and ignorant that I didn’t believe –in all honesty- that he had a heart. I mean how can a person who confesses to love their fellow human beings be so obtuse when it comes to those human beings life. Throughout the article he merely compared homosexual relationships to a relationship you might have with a family member or roommate. He strung the language along so well that even a very intelligent and sensitive friend of mine fell for parts of his argument. While he might have been strategic and thought provoking in comparing homosexual relationships to that of non-sexual loving relationships, he left out the fact that homosexuality is not a choice and our hearts don’t contain an on/off button. Furthermore, if you believe that we could control our emotions or you believe in “de-gayification” then you should probably have a conversation with former pastor of the Evangelical Church, Ted Haggard and ask him how difficult it is to control.

Mr. Ignorant also acknowledged in so many pointless words that marriage and the benefits that it holds is for the sake of the children that heterosexual couples have in that marriage. I wonder if our friend knows that not all heterosexuals get married for the children and yet have the same rights as the heterosexual couples that breed. If we’re going to run with this argument then we should deny marriage to heterosexual couples who aren’t planning on having children or who are sterile.

My face was hot throughout his article but I did get a laugh at the end when he retreated to the Stone Age and spoke about arranged marriages. He retorted to an arguments made by a homosexual individual that stated that, “marriage is about love.” He argued that “marriage and love don’t always go together…In fact, they seldom do” –I’m sure his wife would love to hear that- I’m going to argue that there’s some initial love involved when people get married today –although you heteros like getting divorced- and while arranged marriages take place it’s not enough to support your argument.

Friends, these types of people aren’t going away. For every optimist there are multiple pessimists and for every do-gooder there are many naysayers’. It’s very difficult to live in our wonderful world with these individuals but it is sincerely up to us to fight the great fight and bring some knowledge to these people. When I finished his article I was almost brought to tears hoping he didn’t have a family and thinking about the trash that he would be teaching his children, it hurts my heart. I could only hope that God be lineate with these people come judgment day and while we’re still in the land of the living I’ll continue my efforts to help rid these people of their ignorance and help them to…

…Seek Peace

Sunday, February 4, 2007

Sweet Sounds of Music

Saturday night I attended a concert by Oscar, Emmy and Grammy award winning violinist Joshua Bell. If any of you want to hear what heaven sounds like through a musical instrument then you should definitely attend one of his concerts or buy one of his CD’s. I’m more into classical music than any of my friends –or family for that matter- so they don’t really understand when I make such a big deal out of such an event but I firmly believe that if you clear your mind and your heart, you would seriously enjoy the quality of his music and the levels of peace it will bring you.

Music is such a serious part of our lives and so strongly tied to who we are and the memories we have. I’m visiting my extended family in Rockford and we were on our way home from church today when someone brought up an old children’s song from our Barney days –and for all you fashion experts I’m not talking about the clothing store- When I heard the song she was singing I freaked out and was like, “OMG! I remember that!” and for the rest of the ride we were singing old childhood songs and all the while, I was recalling memories from my childhood. I said all that to prove how important music is to us and not just any music but it’s always the music that’s the dearest to us and close to our hearts.

Some of my old friends and I used to argue about profanity in music. I would argue that it should be taken away from our culture and others would argue the exact opposite. Needless to say I still stick by my opinion. Just as we should try and refrain from polluting the earth, we should also refrain from polluting our minds and hearts. This includes not letting ourselves be conflicted with the negativity that is in this type of music. We’re confronted with enough negativity in our everyday lives, why should we bring it into our personal self? Give positive music a try and let its uplifting nature help us with our continuing efforts to Seek Peace.

Friday, February 2, 2007

A Word About Negative People

Recently I’ve been thinking about all the hatred that’s geared toward people that do so much to help others. For example, I read a blog entry recently that was putting down Rosie O’Donnell. I will admit I was pretty upset when I read the entry and one person’s response to it, so I tried to keep my cool when replying:

I can’t really say that I’m left or right, I fall somewhere in the middle. I personally think that it’s funny how people judge others they don’t really know. I’m not saying that I’m a personal friend of Rosie O’Donnell but I do have a lot of respect for her. She’s currently a co-host on the daytime T.V. talk show The View and I watch it as often as I can. Besides risking her career by coming out of the closet and actively supporting any LGBT cause she could find, Rosie has at least three charitable foundations under the Rosie Foundation. One of her organizations supplied many homes to victims of hurricane Katrina and the other two are theater-based which helps underprivileged youth obtain the funds to pursue careers in theater. As far as her intelligence is concerned -BTW intelligence is overrated- she is well versed in many different subjects that the talk show covers and I’ve heard that she studies a topic vigorously before that show airs. I really feel like throwing up when I hear someone talk about a person they don’t know much about. Furthermore, (name of blogger) -if that’s how you want to be identified- try not to judge a person from a clip on a show as ridiculous as The Colbert Report, that show is not worth watching no less expounding upon. -Oh and she’s not a bigot- Seek Peace, Jamie

People are often complaining about how the rich and famous don’t help the poor and needy so when I see something like this I get very upset. This society is so backward; we get angry with the nice and cuddle with the mean. Those who know me know that I’m an Oprah advocate all the way but I support those who do all that they can to help others. It makes me upset: we’ll elect Bush but will talk about Oprah for not opening school’s in America, we’ll vote for the death penalty in Wisconsin and not for gay marriage, we’ll speak negatively about Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie for adopting needy children outside of America and make it more and more difficult for gay people to adopt. What’s wrong with the people of this country? I would hope that Oprah, Rosie and others like them would continue to do the good that they’re doing despite the word of the naysayer. If this blog entry gets back to someone who decides to speak against the good that these people are doing, I have one thing to say to you…

…Seek Peace