"SMH" of The Day: Terry Jones

The Floridian pastor has been making headlines lately because of his plans to hold a "Quran Burning" on the 9th anniversary of 9/11. REALLY?! How can you call yourself a Christian pastor and show so much hate toward others who you're supposed to show the love of Jesus to? I dunno.....God only knows how he still has a congregation under his leadership...

"Do Hard Things" My Two Cents and Promo Video

Hello Bloggers! I'm officially BACK! I took some unplanned time off due to writers block/lack of interest, etc., but I'm definitely ready to re-enter the blogging world and do big things....or for the sake of this entry, do HARD things. That's the title of the book pictured above. It was written by two teens adults, Alex and Brett Harris who wanted to challenge teens all over to do what the title says, through a "rebelution". Now, I don't want to cover too much in this entry, because I really want you all to go out and get this book. I just started reading it yesterday as a part of this study that my church youth group is doing, and I must say that it is a pretty good book so far. If you really want to make a difference in your lives and the lives of others, this is the book to read. Now for the fun part. My great youth pastor, Quintell Hill, recently did a promo video for this book on YouTube in order to peak interest in the study. The video is HILARIOUS. I hope you all enjoy it, and until next time, KATO MATE.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jkjOwdO12NY

Can Someone Tell Me What's With All the Gaga Comparisons??

As some of you may know, Christina Aguilera's music video for "Not Myself Tonight" premiered on April 30. I've seen the music video, but for purposes of time I'll keep my opinions to myself. But what I WON'T keep to myself about are the countless comparisons that people have drawn up between Aguilera's video and Lady Gaga's videos, mainly "Bad Romance". To be nice and keep it simple at the same time, I'll say this: "ARE YOU GUYS SERIOUS??!". How come people compare EVERYTHING that's different and "out-there" to Lady Gaga these days?! It's as if people think that Lady Gaga invented being different or eccentric in the music business. Really?! People like Boy George, Grace Jones, and Madonna (all of whom have had Gaga compared to them) have been "doing" different things for YEARS before Gaga was even a thought in her own mind. And the most ridiculous thing about this whole situation is that Christina Aguilera's been rocking the electric blonde hair and making a unique image for herself WAY before Lady Gaga. So why are we not comparing Gaga to Aguilera?? But hold on and let me backtrack. Gaga surely didn't create individuality, but she definitely did help bring about a new "wave" of creativity in music, and I can't fault her for that. But when there are only two shots that the two music videos seem to share, (both stars wore Carrera Aviators, and Aguilera did seem to be wearing a Bad Romance-esque "jewelry bikini" type thing that looked similar to an outfit I saw in Bad Romance) there is no justification in websites saying that Christina "copied" Gaga. Let's get real people. 

Erykah Badu's "Window Seat"

OK, let's face it. Erykah Badu lost her mind a WHILE ago, and I doubt that even she can object to that. Nevertheless, I was still very shocked when I watched her video for "Window Seat". In the video, Badu plays on the assassination of JFK while protesting conformity. Sounds harmless right? One would think so until they get to 3:46 when the singer is left in nothing but her bra and panties while walking nonchalantly on a public street. Now I know you guys are probably thinking "WTF??", but it gets better (and I use that word lightly). Miss Badu is still turning heads at 4:26 when she reaches for her bra strap. Now at that point, I was thinking "There's no way this is happening". But indeed it did. In a matter of 6 seconds, the singer was TOPLESS. You can immediately see the shock and outrage as pedestrians look at the half-naked singer parading down the street in nothing but her undies. But holding true to the rest of the video, it doesn't stop there. At 4:44 the singer reaches for her underpants and casually pulls them off. And there is Erykah Badu. Naked on the street. At that point I'm speechless, but Erykah has one more "shock" up her sleeve (or SKIN). The sound of a gun shot comes out of nowhere and immediately Erykah flings her head back and collapses to the ground, mirroring the assassination of JFK . Then Erykah's voice is heard once more, but this time she is talking. She criticizes a group (who she later identifies as "us") for conforming and being too afraid to stand out apart from the group. A good message, right? Precisely. But was casually walking down the street nude the way to get it across? No. I am no advocate for being so politically correct that you lose the real meaning of a piece of art in your own criticism of it. I find nothing wrong with the singer's allusion to the assassination of a president because it had a good meaning behind it. But the manner in which it was done was distasteful to say the least. Kudos to Erykah for the nice piece of pop art that she's gave us, but on the contrary, shame on her for her vulgarity.   

Health Care Reform: So Where Do YOU Stand?

We all (should) know what happened last night with health care reform. But what I want to know is where YOU stand on the issue. Are you happy? Upset? Outraged? Shocked? Tell me! As you can tell from the picture above, I'm on the fence about the situation, and want to hear what others have to say about it. Leave your opinions/remarks/concerns, etc. in the comment area. Thank you, and as always, KATO MATE.