Break Away II

Even those not interested in entertainment news will have seen or heard about the video footage of Kanye West jumping on the stage during the 2009 MTV video awards whilst Taylor Swift was making her acceptance speech.

Taylor is no idol of mine, and I think the MTV video awards are a waste of time, but really – it was her big moment. As a society, has all respect and decorum been forgotten about? Apparently so, after looking at the lyrics that Kanye uses in his songs. Now having done that, and ruined my appetite for the day, I really don’t think it’s that out of character for him.

Which brings me to another point – why does pop music have to be so freakin’ lifeless? Most of the stuff in the charts is just crap icing on top of crap cake. These days I just can’t be bothered with pop music. It probably says something about our culture that we don’t even care to think beyond the shallowest levels in anything that we do. All most people want is pithy, nonsensical platitudes in our music and copies of copies for the rest of their lives.

Yet that’s another tangent altogether, so let’s get back to Kanye the moronic egomaniac. Should we be surprised? Probably not In a world where idiocy is rewarded with airplay and publicity, more of the same can be expected. Everybody wants their five minutes of fame even should it be someone elses five minutes of fame that you’re taking. I have no idea why we should take any notice of what these people say or do. Do they have any qualifications that would make me want to value their opinion?

Of course, the same is true here – who cares what I say or do? Who I am to be giving my opinion??  I love to rant and rave about anything that crosses the circuits in my little brain – whether I’m qualified to comment on it or not.

I guess I should try writing pop music…

Continue : Idiot Kanye West

It is former superstar singer and actress Judy Garland’s birthday today!

Through a career that spanned 45 of her 47 years, Garland attained international stardom as an actress in musical and dramatic roles, as a recording artist and on the concert stage. Respected for her versatility, she received a Juvenile Academy Award, won a Golden Globe Award, received the Cecil B. DeMille Award for her work in films, as well as Grammy Awards and a Tony Award. She had a contralto singing range.

Judy Garland (born Frances Ethel Gumm, June 10, 1922 – June 22, 1969) was a truly amazing talent.  But Despite her professional triumphs, Garland battled personal problems throughout her life. Insecure about her appearance, her
feelings were compounded by film executives who told her she was unattractive and overweight. Plied with drugs to control her weight and increase her productivity, Garland endured a decades-long struggle with addiction. Garland
was plagued by financial instability, often owing hundreds of thousands of dollars in back taxes, and her first four of five marriages ended in divorce. She attempted suicide on a number of occasions. Garland died of an accidental drug overdose at the age of forty-seven, leaving children Liza Minnelli, Lorna Luft, and Joey Luft.

In 1997, Garland was posthumously awarded a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award and several of her recordings have been inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. In 1999, the American Film Institute placed her among the ten greatest female stars in the history of American cinema.

Garland landed the lead role of Dorothy Gale in The Wizard of Oz (1939) at the age of sixteen, in which she introduced the song with which she would forever be identified, “Over the Rainbow”. Although producers Arthur Freed and Mervyn LeRoy had wanted Garland from the start, studio chief Mayer tried first to borrow Shirley Temple from 20th Century Fox. Temple’s services were denied and Garland was cast.

Judy Garland’s legacy as a performer and a personality has endured long after her death. The American Film Institute named Garland eighth among the Greatest Female Stars of All Time.

Of particular note is Garland’s status as a gay icon. She always had a large base of fans in the gay community. Reasons often given for her standing, especially  amongst gay men, are admiration of her ability as a performer, the
way her personal struggles supposedly mirrored those of gay men in America during the height of her fame and her value as a camp figure.

To find out more about Biography Judy Garland, Get Happy Judy Garland or Judy Garland the Wizard of Oz, visit MastersOfTrivia.com.