NUTS!
It’s been 243 days since I’ve missed a post! I totally got distracted and I got behind on my posts. Oh well. I think we’ll all survive. Behinds… no matter how awesome I think my blog is… it’s doesn’t compare to parking in Budapest!
Friday, October 8, 2010
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Day 808: Who the Heck is Katy Perry?
Okay, okay, okay. So, Katy Perry was on Sesame Street… possibly dressed as a slutty princess. As a parent I am told I should be bothered by this. So… first things first… who the heck is Katy Perry?
Man, I feel old… and out of touch. For some reason I want to refer to myself as a ‘square’… but a hip square… because I wasn’t nearly as offended by the video as everyone else seems to be… and that’s me speaking as a parent, not a dude.
Seriously, was that really offensive? The dress she’s wearing is tamer than most prom dresses… and to me, she was wearing a typical summer dress that wasn’t overly revealing. Compared to the things our kids probably pick-up from the evening news or super-bowl half-time shows… I don’t think Katy Perry’s performance on Sesame Street is worthy of an outcry.
Celebrities, unfit for children’s consumption, appear on Sesame Street all the time… but we need to remember, they aren’t there for our kids… they are there for us, the parents. We shouldn’t be letting the television raise our kids, right? We should be watching with them, guiding them… Sesame Street doesn’t layer in celebrities as a way to indoctrinate our kids… they do it to give the parents watching something special. Our kids have no idea what the connection is… it’s just part of the show… the lesson… part of the learning process.
Check this out: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_guest_stars_on_Sesame_Street
No one complained when James Gandolfini & Edie Falco appeared on Sesame Street while they were on ‘The Sopranos’, a show where they don’t utter a single sentence without at least one profanity.
Jason Biggs from ‘American Pie’… The man had intercourse with an apple pie on camera for crying out loud! I didn’t hear a peep out of anyone when he appeared.
Let’s see… who else… oh, The Simpsons, Ben Stiller, Gene Simmons, Paul Reubens has been on twice, Joe Pesci, Robert Deniro, Sandra Oh from Grey’s Anatomy, Ice-T…
And what about Jessica Alba’s appearance where she defined the word ‘scrumptious’… right… I’m sure there were no sexual undertones there.
The list goes on and on:
Now, all that said… I don’t have any problem with the fact Katy Perry was going to appear on the show. I don’t have a problem with how she was dressed either. However, I don’t think her segment was ultimately successful… and I have a feeling this is why parents across the country are complaining. They know there was something wrong with the segment but don’t exactly know why… so they complain about what she was wearing or question why a pop star was on the show in the first place. Her segment was unsuccessful because it wasn’t educational.
The montage clip above showed Alanis Morissette in, what I would consider, a highly successful and educational celebrity segment. Much like James Blunt’s odd yet fun geometry lesson:
As for Katy Perry… her segment was gratuitous. Not gratuitous in a sexual way… but in an unneeded way. There was no added value. Now, I’m not saying every segment on Sesame Street needs to be educational… there is a time and place to just have fun and I think it’s important for our kids to understand this… However, a number of years ago, the bench mark for a highly successful ‘let’s have fun’ musical segment on Sesame Street was set very high by REM. And… well… I’m sorry Katy… you’re no REM.
Man, I feel old… and out of touch. For some reason I want to refer to myself as a ‘square’… but a hip square… because I wasn’t nearly as offended by the video as everyone else seems to be… and that’s me speaking as a parent, not a dude.
Seriously, was that really offensive? The dress she’s wearing is tamer than most prom dresses… and to me, she was wearing a typical summer dress that wasn’t overly revealing. Compared to the things our kids probably pick-up from the evening news or super-bowl half-time shows… I don’t think Katy Perry’s performance on Sesame Street is worthy of an outcry.
Celebrities, unfit for children’s consumption, appear on Sesame Street all the time… but we need to remember, they aren’t there for our kids… they are there for us, the parents. We shouldn’t be letting the television raise our kids, right? We should be watching with them, guiding them… Sesame Street doesn’t layer in celebrities as a way to indoctrinate our kids… they do it to give the parents watching something special. Our kids have no idea what the connection is… it’s just part of the show… the lesson… part of the learning process.
Check this out: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_guest_stars_on_Sesame_Street
No one complained when James Gandolfini & Edie Falco appeared on Sesame Street while they were on ‘The Sopranos’, a show where they don’t utter a single sentence without at least one profanity.
Jason Biggs from ‘American Pie’… The man had intercourse with an apple pie on camera for crying out loud! I didn’t hear a peep out of anyone when he appeared.
Let’s see… who else… oh, The Simpsons, Ben Stiller, Gene Simmons, Paul Reubens has been on twice, Joe Pesci, Robert Deniro, Sandra Oh from Grey’s Anatomy, Ice-T…
And what about Jessica Alba’s appearance where she defined the word ‘scrumptious’… right… I’m sure there were no sexual undertones there.
The list goes on and on:
Now, all that said… I don’t have any problem with the fact Katy Perry was going to appear on the show. I don’t have a problem with how she was dressed either. However, I don’t think her segment was ultimately successful… and I have a feeling this is why parents across the country are complaining. They know there was something wrong with the segment but don’t exactly know why… so they complain about what she was wearing or question why a pop star was on the show in the first place. Her segment was unsuccessful because it wasn’t educational.
The montage clip above showed Alanis Morissette in, what I would consider, a highly successful and educational celebrity segment. Much like James Blunt’s odd yet fun geometry lesson:
As for Katy Perry… her segment was gratuitous. Not gratuitous in a sexual way… but in an unneeded way. There was no added value. Now, I’m not saying every segment on Sesame Street needs to be educational… there is a time and place to just have fun and I think it’s important for our kids to understand this… However, a number of years ago, the bench mark for a highly successful ‘let’s have fun’ musical segment on Sesame Street was set very high by REM. And… well… I’m sorry Katy… you’re no REM.
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
Day 807: Followers Welcome
Okay, enough is enough. You all have been lurking in the wings long enough. I know there are more than seven people following SchutzHappens!
It’s time to step out on stage and make your presence known!
Really, I’m just curious… how many of you are out there? And how many of you are willing to go on the record?
Hello world? Are you out there? Do you hear me?
Will you be my follower? Circle one:
YES NO MAYBE
It’s time to step out on stage and make your presence known!
Really, I’m just curious… how many of you are out there? And how many of you are willing to go on the record?
Hello world? Are you out there? Do you hear me?
Will you be my follower? Circle one:
YES NO MAYBE
Monday, October 4, 2010
Day 806: My Friends Know Me Well
I know… I’ve paddled on at length about my friends... and no, I don’t plan to bore you with more random stories of my past… at least not until I finally get inspired and finish ‘The Chair’. But until then, I want to share this!
Kerry emailed this too me today suggesting it should be my Halloween costume this year.
I think that’s a marvelous idea… now, if only my airfreight would arrive so I can start studying my ‘Pulp Fiction’ script. Anyone have a gold watch?
BTW, I must admit, my favorite Christopher Walken quote comes from ‘American Sweethearts’ when he’s editing the movie in the Unabomber’s Cabin and Billy Crystal calls to see how it’s coming along. Billy asks, “How is it?” Walken replies, “My mother thinks it's my best work.” Hilarious!
Sunday, October 3, 2010
Day 805: How ‘Lost’ Should Have Ended
Again, I feel like I’m living in a third world country or something. How have I missed www.howitshouldhaveended.com.
It’s is awesome… although, I would recommend going to youtube to see their stuff rather than their website. It’s easier to navigate.
Anyway, checkout ‘How Lost Should Have Ended’.
It’s is awesome… although, I would recommend going to youtube to see their stuff rather than their website. It’s easier to navigate.
Anyway, checkout ‘How Lost Should Have Ended’.
Saturday, October 2, 2010
Friday, October 1, 2010
Day 803: The Wonderful World of Skype
Another thing folks in the Foreign Service talk about is the internet… and this is something I can get behind. How in the world did we ever do this without the internet… email… and now SKYPE! I can video chat with friends and family for FREE!!! Worldwide!
It’s amazing… and it’s a necessity. How in the world did people do it in the dark ages? Write letters by hand? Ha!
I Skype with Serena just about every day and she is always holding Gilly and he is always excited to see me. He smiles and waves and claps his little hands… it’s like he knows daddy is overdue for a standing ovation. This time with Gilly is very special to me. He was only six months old when I left for Pakistan, and by the time my tour is over I will have been away for two thirds of his life. That’s sad, but we’re making it work. Besides, I have it easy compared of our Military.
Gilly grows up just a little more each day and this week he has a new trick. He’s looking for me. It’s true, he sees me on Serena’s laptop screen and he’s convinced I’m behind the computer. So, he’s pulling the screen down and getting upset when I’m not back there… and then Serena corrects the screen, Gilly sees me, smiles again and is like, “Oh! There you are dad!” And he’ll try to pull the screen down again. Very cute! I think he’s going to be excited to see me is a few months! I can’t wait!
With Grayson, who is almost 5, Skyping is a little different… the novelty has worn off and he has a very busy social calendar. I’ll normally get a ‘hey dad’ in passing… but he only sits down to talk about once a week. And most of the time it’s when Serena and Gilly need to step away. I think he enjoys talking to me more when Serena and Gilly aren’t around, which is completely normal and understandable for a big brother in need of his own independence. We actually have great talks. He tells me stories and likes to play Skype hide and seek (which is just hiding off camera and jumping up to say ‘Boo’)… and I can tell he misses me. We have an ‘I love you/miss you’ hand signal we made up before I left… he’s still too young to express himself verbally, but body language I can read… and when he throws up our hand signal it’s enough to break my heart.
We’re almost there buddy! We’re almost there!
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