Category Archives: Pop Culture

Household manual

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I am a sucker for reality TV. I used to watch a lot more – now, I stick with competition shows like American Idol, The Voice, ANTM…nothing that delves too much into the lives of the cast.

I have been known to, occasionally, watch Wife Swap when nothing else was on, but the show makes me uncomfortable. Recently, my friend Kelli at kellidaisy.com mentioned that Celebrity Wife Swap was actually pretty good. So, I set my PVR to record it and figured I might watch it when I was desperate to escape and nothing was on. It recorded two episodes before I even considered viewing it. Last night, I watched them back-to-back. Mr. T pretended he wasn’t watching the first one, but by the second, he was hooked. Hehe. I shouldn’t be surprised, though, because as much as he claims not to be interested in the goings-on of pop culture, he regularly watched Celebrity Apprentice until I refused to watch once Trump requested Obama’s birth certificate [video].

Why did we like Celebrity Wife Swap? I dunno. Nothing says glitz and glam like sausage left out on Carnie Wilson’s stove.

When the wives get to their new, temporary homes, there is a ‘household manual’ waiting for them that is written by the other wife or couple. The manual sets the tone for how the household operates – roles, expectations, routine, child-rearing philosophies, relationship overview, politics, religion & values, and basically anything else that happens in a household. This is household manual for Gary Busey’s family.

It got me thinking about what would be in our household manual. What would I write if I had to leave a Coles notes version of the inner-workings of our family? What would I say about my relationship with Mr. T and how that functions in our household? What would I say about how we raise our kids and maintain our house?

I am still thinking about it and am thinking I might write one just for the fun of it. I wonder what it would reveal when laid out on paper.

Do you think writing a household manual like the Busey family’s would reveal surprises about the inner-workings of your family?

The power of transparency: Kanye West

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It’s a little known fact that I follow pop culture. Closely.  I keep up with what is happening in the entertainment world and with the people who inhabit it.  In fact, at one point in my academic career I considered doing research on the cult of celebrity because it fascinates me so much.

I have my opinions on the goings-ons, stories, and rumours that surround celebrities.  Rarely, do I share them – especially publicly.  It’s none of my business.  It’s about other people’s lives and I don’t generally feel it’s my place to weigh in.  Until today.  Today, I am contributing my 2 cents about none other than Kanye West.

I am a fan.

I have been a fan of Kanye West since he produced some of my favourite songs on the Brown Sugar soundtrack.  He is one of the few artists whose music I have purchased on CD and that I still listen to regularly.  He is talented and he has a message if you’re willing to listen.

When he said and did stupid things, I didn’t contribute to the Kanye-bashing.  There are people out there doing far worse things than stunting and running their mouths.  As far as I was concerned, it was irrelevant.  He was throwing around his ego.  Big deal.  It didn’t affect me at all and it didn’t change how I felt about his music.

It affected him, though.

And this morning, he lay it all bare and told the world how.  Over the course of over 70 tweets, Kanye released a stream of consciousness telling his side of the story.  His truth.  Uncensored.  Unedited.  Unfiltered by media, publicists, record labels, or managers.

The vulnerability of his tweets fascinated me and the power of his transparency struck me. It is quite possible that he has single-handedly changed the game by removing the filters. Twitter gave him the power to tell his story in his own words without being at the mercy of the editing process of media. He was able to get his words out without being interrupted or bound by anyone else’s agenda.

I think that the implications of this will be beneficial to Kanye and his forth-coming album. I applaud him. So few people, much less celebrities, are willing to be so raw and unedited – to bare themselves and publicly acknowledge their weaknesses and wrong-doings.

Was this a publicity stunt? Perhaps. But, I don’t think it matters. As I am sure Kanye well knows by now, the implication of one’s words and actions are more powerful than the intention behind them. Even if everyone else calls fraud, he has inspired me.

My writing is functionally detached. I know this. It is guarded and bound by fear of rejection. I will defend my actions and own them, but not my words. As a result, I approach deep topics and deeps issues as objectively as possible. Academically, even.

Maybe, just maybe, Kanye has inspired me to expose myself a little more – to lay myself out there and own my words as fiercely as I do my actions.  To speak my truth.

My sentiments exactly.

What do you think of Kanye’s tweet stream? Do you think it’s genuine?
How willing are you to expose yourself, unedited?
What filters do your words go through?