3/30/14

the 2014 Kids' Choice Awards: continuing all of Nickelodeon's legacies, all at once!

UPDATE: 1 of the night's biggest winners is apparently suddenly in danger of cancellation, all because of another stupid scandal... I mean, when the media starts focusing more on T.V. show stars' private lives instead of the success (or lack thereof) of their shows, or more important events, such as economic/political/sociological events, even though those types of events all seem to be overly sensationalized to make it seem as if this world has gone to absolute ****, when it's almost always seen similar courses of events throughout history, that's when you know our media has hit rock bottom in terms of its severely lacking prioritizing capabilities! (just my 2 cents)

ALSO: 27 Ridiculously Random (and Awesome) Quotes From the KCAs Orange Carpet
I already visited this place once... why can't the network follow suit?
You know where I think the ceremony should be held next year? How about making some history & moving it outdoors, for the 1st time ever!

When you think of a modern-day awards show, you probably think of businesspeople voting behind closed doors for the people the rest of us all hope we could vote for to win awards bankrolled by huge, multinational movie or music studios, worldwide... This awards show, however, is different, in that kids (obviously...) vote for the winners, &, in the process, get to witness some wacky moments unfold, live (East Coast only!) The 2014 Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards, contrary to popular belief, didn't further any common stereotypes of this country's under-18 demographic, but instead, they simply confirmed what we've always thought of this demographic (that there are some über-talented people among us), as well as Nickelodeon (that has produced the vast majority of those "teen talents", as I've taken to calling them in recent days, weeks, & months!) With a few shows that dominated the show over the past few years leaving the network over the past few months, if you were in Nickelodeon's position, you'd probably be hard-pressed to figure out how to fill the show's traditional 90-minute time slot without going beyond the normal demographic(s), & this year proved to be 1 of the toughest in the show's history to fill, given the circumstances:

See those lists of nominees? You'd think, given the network's many connections to various other networks (CBS, Comedy Central, MTV, VH1, & so on & so forth), through its ownership by the (post-2005) Viacom Media Networks, that the network would give its ownership slightly more representation, but apparently, that was not the case this year among the movie category nominees, given the massive Disney representation in those categories!

As troubling as the movie category nominee lists were, the television lists were not only more promising for the networks' own talents, but dominated among those nominees/eventual winners by multiple-time KCA winners, showing, if nothing else, the network's loyalty to its own people:
See all the (Nickelodeon-representing) winners in these categories? Those shows, combined, have aired for a total of over 2 decades, showing (once again) that the network might not be willing to monopolize its own awards show (thus doing itself a major disservice, at least in my opinion), & obviously, until the network starts getting back into the business of reality shows, I think you'll continue to see the other networks fill up that category year after year, at least for the foreseeable future, that is, unless all of those shows end up getting canceled within relatively short order...
As with the movie category, given the network's long history of producing TV characters-turned-chart toppers (which goes back to the network's very beginning in the early 1980s, with a certain French Canadian performer), I think the network could have represented itself here even more than earlier years (after all, wasn't that the reason Nickelodeon signed its 2007 deal with Sony Music?)
Considering the recent jump for all those series, I'm not surprised at the app game/video game/book series nominees, & I'm sure the comedy & sports categories are to be expected (although where are Comedy Central's (& the Garden State's own) 2 late-night hosts?)

This final category, however, was 1 that I 1st made note of a month & a 1/2 ago, & in there, I mentioned some of the following points, which I'll reiterate to you after I show you this:
That's right, people: this year's lifetime achievement award went to none other than the guy responsible for much of Nickelodeon's historical success stories: producer Dan Schneider! Since he started at the network sometime in the mid-1980s, the network has generally seen more success with shows he's gotten involved with in some capacity than shows in which he hasn't gotten involved, &, as I noted in mid-February, he was responsible for so much of the network's overall history that without him, the network might not have even reached the new millennium (note the fittingly orange text):
"If it wasn’t for this man and the people around him, you might not have heard of at least half of the actors/actresses/performers/shows to have emerged from Nickelodeon over the past bunch of years!"
Since it's only fair to recognize him, I figured I might as well also mention the role of the Prudential Center, in downtown Newark, New Jersey in launching 1 of the aforementioned winners' 2nd career:
(EDIT: the arena removed its "news" page! Well, "news" page or no "news" page, my point still stands: your state might have been responsible for starting so-&-so's career in something, be it movies, music, sports, television, or something else, but the Prudential Center in our state (sorry, Boston! I just couldn't help myself!) played host to the (on-stage) debut for the (almost) 21-year-old Ariana Grande, so I'll repeat myself, yet again: your state might have some of its own "best-kept secrets", but trust me, starting somebody's career here, I think, is infinitely more rewarding than any of the more typical "best-kept secrets" that your states might have held onto... I mean, if she already made it here
...then why can't she return to this state, in a different arena? (insert shameless plug for my own (grassroots) campaign here)
speaking of "secrets": 
the world absolutely demands to know your secret... just kidding!
On the topic of annual events, stay tuned right back here later today (EDT & all points east)/ tomorrow (everywhere west of the East Coast) for not another recap of this, but instead for a recap of the NCAA regionals & a preview of the Frozen Four, to be held this year in the Wells Fargo Center in south Philadelphia!


3/23/14

my response to (yet another) prom invitation

as if I didn't need any more reasons to follow through with my idea...
Earlier today, I saw this post:

http://www.reddit.com/r/teenagers/comments/21cu99/other_so_my_old_hs_won_a_free_private_concert/

Apparently, somebody commented on how his "former high school" (to quote the relevant title) won a 100% free concert from a relatively well-known Canadian rock group, so if that can happen, then I'm sure that once word gets out to my former high school, that we'll have just as much success as they did, except my people will be able to have some influence on that decision, instead of some group just randomly deciding to play that other (Canadian) high school!

EDIT: Stop stalking me, Facebook! It was bad enough having Buzzfeed up my you-know-what earlier this year; now you have to follow suit!?

Approximately a week & a 1/2 or 2 weeks ago, this post happened:

http://anytandeverything.blogspot.com/2014/03/my-campaign-to-help-1-of-my-former-hss.html

Contained within that post were the following links:

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/espn-beadle-accepts-prom-invite-paralyzed-teen-article-1.1720576 (sportscaster)

http://cbs12.com/news/top-stories/stories/local-high-school-student-asks-victorias-secret-model-prom-viral-video-13993.shtml (fashion model)

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2569048/If-works-I-love-Flustered-Olympic-medallist-Gracie-Gold-accepts-video-prom-date-proposal-high-school-student-surprises-interview.html (Olympic figure skater)

http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/eye-on-football/24471063/twitter-prom-proposal-leads-to-date-with-texans-cheerleader (NFL cheerleader)

Now, I respect those people - both the "inviters" & the celeb "invitees" - but, in this case, only to an extent, since they're not who I'm looking for in this campaign of mine! This particular invitation, however, is more relevant not just to myself, this random dude, or a girl (mind you, she's only 20 years & 330-some days of age right now) who (1) already appeared here in Jersey last June, so this, assuming it happens, could very well turn into an annual thing, if not for herself, then definitely for us... (2) I'm not planning on inviting her, or anybody else all by myself... as much disdain as I have for political "movements" such as the Tea Party & the Occupy, & Arab Spring "movements", I believe that when enough people agree on a common goal, such as (in my case) bringing a performer/performers to East Rutherford, those movements seem to be more successful than when they involve 1 person, or a few people making decisions for everybody else (I'm looking at you, D.C.!) (3) I'm sure she's too busy working on some rather ironic titles (speaking of ironic titles...) to accept some isolated prom invitation, even though I'm sure she could captivate the entire dance floor with her moves! So, the verdict that I'd like to lay down is this: you can have her, if you don't change your mind over the next 3 months, but if we choose to bring her back here to Jersey within that timeframe, then you better bet she'd most likely prefer "serenading" an entire almost 800-strong graduating class than somebody singlehandedly looking to bring somebody like her to an undisclosed location for some "dirty dancing"!

I'd just like to remind you people part of my original post: "After all, as we've all seen over the past few days, weeks, & even months, contrary to popular belief, it seems as if getting certain celebrities (of one's personal choosing, that is) invited to certain events is the easy part instead of the hard 1; it seems as if getting the wherewithal & getting enough people to support one's efforts to get 1 of those people to some special event such as homecoming/prom/graduation/etc. is the hardest part of all! That being said, if individual people have managed to pull off something like that & successfully invite a celebrity with whom they are particularly enamored, then I'm even more convinced that, judging by the class of 2014's confidence & willingness to "start (its) own tradition", I'll be able to be part of a successful campaign to get a special private, most likely post-grad ceremony, performance by some well-known solo artist, group, or perhaps an entire group featuring another solo performer, on the last Thursday night in June in the Meadowlands in East Rutherford, N.J.!"

3/21/14

some (bilingual) heritage curiosities

http://lossip.com/32524/celebrities-mistaken-latinas/
Normalmente, nosotros esperemos que ciertas personas con ciertas nombres/"características de cuerpo"/descendencias/etc. saben una idioma o regresan a su país natal algunas veces... La siguiente lista, al contrario de nuestras expectaciones, derrota todas suposiciones que debemos de tener sobre nuestros seres humanos! Por los que han seguido este blog desde algunas meses, yo he comentado ocasionalmente sobre cierta celebridad (quien figura como el nº4 en la siguiente lista), y sus tendencias de ser un poco mas "reservada" (por falta de una palabra mejor) de sus compañer@s de Hollywood! Esto no quiere decir que estoy criticando su personalidad, sino que quiero expresar mis curiosidades sobre su fluencia en este lenguaje...

Esto fue parte de un "correo electrónico" que yo mande a una de mis profesores de economía hace dos meses: 

“Es una mera ficción eso de que no existe un puente de unión entre una y otra gente, y que todos viven en la soledad y la incomprensión. Por lo contrario, lo que la gente tiene en común con los demás es algo más grande e importante de lo que cada ser humano tiene por naturaleza y lo que lo distingue de los demás.” - autor/escritor aleman Hermann Hesse

...bueno... si eso no es evidencia que alguien con un apellido que figura como una palabra muy común en el Español (públicamente) no demuestra fluencia en el lenguaje, pero si demuestra fluencia "sobre el escenario", que podemos decir de su descendencia en el sur de la Florida? Es que la area desde Miami hasta la "Planicie" en su norte, cerca de su capital, Tallahassee, no tiene la diversidad lingüística que nosotros constantemente pensábamos que tenia? Sera que otros partes de nuestro país, como mi area metropolitana, el de N.Y.C., tienen mas diversidad lingüística que la Florida? O es que simplemente hay much@s refugiad@s Cuban@s y Venezolan@s en ese ciudad para medir todas las otras nacionalidades que han asentado sobre esa area?

Por lo que vale, yo he visitado la ciudad canadiense de Montréal casi una docena de veces durante unos cuantos años, y he aprendido Frances a una nivel no "fluente", pero definitivamente "pasable"... Creo que los que han sido "nacid@s y criad@s" en cualquier parte del mundo entero, como los suizos, los japoneses, y los coreanos, para nombrar unos pocos, pueden llevar una conversación en su lenguaje natal mejor que personas que simplemente han visitado su país unas cuantas veces!

Nosotros simplemente tenemos los Sopranos por esta zona, pero algunas personas aquí en "el estado jardín" tienen la tendencia de actuar como "mafiosos" en algunas veces... Eso no quiere decir que nosotros olvidamos de nuestras herencias y nuestras patrias simplemente para adaptarse a nuestros ambientes sociales! Tenemos que dejar de nuestros cojudeses con personalidades y, al contrario, seria bueno si enfocaremos en todo lo demás que pasa en nuestro mundo, por que todavía hay trabajo en que nuestra sociedad civil debe seguir antes de que podemos "distraer" en cosas de menos urgencia! http://lossip.com/32524/celebrities-mistaken-latinas/
Normally, we expect certain people with certain names/"body features"/heritages/etc. know a certain language, or revisit their native countr(y/ies) every so often... The above list, contrary to our expectations, eliminates all suspicions that we should have about our fellow human beings! Those of you who have followed this blog in recent months probably know that I've commented on a certain celebrity (who checks in at #4 on the above list), & her tendencies to be somewhat more "reserved" (for lack of a better word) than the rest of her Hollywood peers! That's not to say that I'm being critical of her personality, per se... In fact, I actually want to express some of my curiosities over her Spanish language fluency!

This was part of an e-mail I sent 1 of my economics professors about 2 months ago:

"It's a mere fiction that no point of union exists between everybody, and that everybody lives in solitude and incomprehension. To the contrary; what people have in common with others is something much bigger and more important than what every human being has by nature and what distinguishes them from everybody else." - German author/writer Hermann Hesse

...well... (unfortunately, this doesn't translate as fittingly in English as it does in Spanish!) if that's not evidence that somebody with a name that is an incredibly common everyday word in Spanish doesn't (at least publicly) demonstrate fluency in the language, yet does demonstrate fluency "on stage", what, then, can we make of her "formative years" in south Florida? Is it that the area between Miami and the "Panhandle", near the state's capital, Tallahassee, doesn't have the linguistic diversity we always thought it had? Could it be that other metro areas, such as my metro area, N.Y.C., have more linguistic diversity than Florida? Or is it simply that there are so many Cuban & Venezuelan refugees there to gauge all the other nationalities that have settled in that area?

For what it's worth, I've visited the (French) Canadian City of Montréal almost a dozen times within the past few years, & I've learned the French language to a level that's not exactly "fluent", but it's definitely "passable"... I think that those who have been "born & raised" in whichever part of the whole world, such as the Swiss, the Japanese, & the Koreans, just to name a few, can carry on a conversation in their native language better than somebody who's simply visited that country a bunch of times!

We only have the Sopranos around here, but some people here in "the Garden State" tend to act like "mafiosos" every so often... That's not to say that we just "fugheddabout" (did any of you catch that reference?) our heritages simply to adapt to the social environments around us! We must quit our constant ******** about personalities A.S.A.P., &, to the contrary, we might as well focus on everything else going on in our world, 'cause there's still work that needs finishing in our civil society before we'll be able to "distract" ourselves with events of decidedly less urgency than the rest!


P.S.: here's a "new project" HINT, for those of you who've forgotten:

3/11/14

my campaign to help 1 of my former high school's graduating class's ceremonies get "entertained"

Let's make this...
A few weeks ago, the following article appeared in 1 of my local newspapers:
CLIFTON — Clifton High School seniors still don't know for sure where they will be receiving their diplomas with four months until graduation day.

The 711 seniors will not be taking the field at Clifton Stadium, as in past years, as it will be under renovation to upgrade the facilities.

District officials said they are currently working on a plan.

On Jan. 15, by an 8 to 1 vote, the Board of Education approved a highly-anticipated renovation to the Stadium that includes a new track along with an artificial turf field. If preliminary steps go smoothly construction will begin in April. The project is expected to take five months, displacing the June 26 graduation ceremony.

At the January public meeting Superintendent of Schools Richard Tardalo said graduation will probably take place at either the Meadowlands' Izod Center or Yogi Berra Stadium at Montclair State University, with Izod being the first choice.

Passaic County Tech is a site that has been mentioned as well.

Last week, Tardalo said he is waiting on a written contract from representatives from the Izod Center. In December he estimated the cost near "$20,000" to rent the 19,000 seat arena.

Senior student Robert Lupo, who is also president of the CHS Student Government, said he and classmates initially hoped graduation could still be held at Clifton Stadium.

"We are coming to terms with it," Lupo said. "Now everybody wants Izod. That way we can have our entire families there."
Lupo said he has not heard anyone from his class say that they would prefer Yogi Berra Stadium.

"If we don't get Izod people are going to be unhappy," Lupo said.

The Student Government discussed the issue with Tardalo.

Clifton resident Val Riggi has a son, Anthony, in the class of 2014. She had the experience of watching her older son Robert graduate from Paramus Catholic at the Izod Center in 2009.

"It was beautiful," Riggi said. "I had 14 family members with me. We were relaxed, sitting in air conditioning, watching my son on the big screen."

"High school graduation is an important stepping stone in a family's life and you want to celebrate that with as many people as possible," she said.

Riggi said she was very pleased with the parking and handicap accessibility of the arena.

"To me, it's worth every penny," she said. "And you don't have to worry if the weather is good or not."

In the past, inclement weather has moved graduation to the CHS auditorium where students are afforded two tickets each for a crowded and sometimes uncomfortable ceremony. The auditorium has not been mentioned as a possibility for this year.

Yogi Berra Stadium is outdoors and weather would pose the same problem.

Board President Gary Passenti said in January that a multi-year deal with Izod could provide a cheaper rate.

That opens the possibility of moving the Clifton graduation ceremony away from Clifton Stadium for more than just 2014.

"I felt like a weatherman all week," Passenti said in January, referring to last year's graduation. "We had to move up the event two hours early because of the threat of storms and some people missed the graduation altogether."

Lupo, who is heading to The College of New Jersey in the fall, said that above all he and his classmates do not want to graduate at another school.

"That would be embarrassing," he said.

"We want to start our own tradition."

- See more at: http://www.northjersey.com/news/246476321_District_finalizing_Clifton_High_School_grad_ceremony_specifics.html?page=all#sthash.6MnV1Gpy.dpuf

Just a few days ago, a few weeks after that article, I sent the following e-mail to 1 of my freshman year of college professors (who, judging by his looks & personality, is the last person I'm sure most of you people would suspect of liking "top 40"-type pop music), after mentioning my Japan plans to him:


Closer to home, however, my (former) high school could very well move its 2014 graduation ceremony from the 57-year-old stadium scheduled to undergo total renovations this summer to the Meadowlands in East Rutherford, either on a one-time-only deal (just this year) or perhaps in multiple years! Either way, I haven't been back inside that arena since all of its professional sports tenants moved elsewhere over the past few years, and if everything gets timed correctly, I'm sure there could be an impromptu performance either before or after (most likely after) the ceremony, since there will be quite a few tours passing through the Garden State in late June, if the people back at my (former) high school are able (and willing) to mobilize some sort of organized effort of some kind to get one, or perhaps more than one, of those groups to notice and make the trip to East Rutherford on (relatively) short notice! I know what you're probably thinking... seems like some rather lofty set of goals for a simple graduation ceremony, but since it's a public school moving its graduation ceremony from its home stadium to a 20,000-seat arena for what is, as of right now, a one-time-only deal, why not make it somewhat more "special" than the typical graduation ceremony, given the circumstances?
Finally, a relevant quote from 1 of the NFL's greatest head coaches:

"Individual commitment to a group effort - that is what makes a team work, a company work, a society work, a civilization work."  ~ Super Bowl trophy "namesake" Vince Lombardi

The following links lead to articles about "promposals", instead of "graduation invitations", but I still consider the 2 to be more similar than you might think!

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/espn-beadle-accepts-prom-invite-paralyzed-teen-article-1.1720576

http://cbs12.com/news/top-stories/stories/local-high-school-student-asks-victorias-secret-model-prom-viral-video-13993.shtml

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2569048/If-works-I-love-Flustered-Olympic-medallist-Gracie-Gold-accepts-video-prom-date-proposal-high-school-student-surprises-interview.html

http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/eye-on-football/24471063/twitter-prom-proposal-leads-to-date-with-texans-cheerleader

http://www.click2houston.com/news/nfl-player-takes-houston-teen-to-prom/25453796

After all, as we've all seen over the past few days, weeks, & even months, contrary to popular belief, it seems as if getting certain celebrities (of one's personal choosing, that is) invited to certain events is the easy part instead of the hard 1; it seems as if getting the wherewithal & getting enough people to support one's efforts to get 1 of those people to some special event such as homecoming/prom/graduation/etc. is the hardest part of all! That being said, if individual people have managed to pull off something like that & successfully invite a celebrity with whom they are particularly enamored, then I'm even more convinced that, judging by the class of 2014's confidence & willingness to "start (its) own tradition", I'll be able to be part of a successful campaign to get a special private, most likely post-grad ceremony, performance by some well-known solo artist, group, or perhaps an entire group featuring another solo performer, on the last Thursday night in June in the Meadowlands in East Rutherford, N.J.!

An additional thought: I hope this doesn't narrow down the possibilities too much, but I would prefer some "narrowing down" instead of the "organized chaos" most campaigns seem to bring... That being said, I would prefer a combination of the following categories:

1: performer(s) who made his/her/their debut here, which, if you look far & long enough into the "inter webs", isn't as hard as it seems to figure out!

2: performer(s) who will already be around here sometime in June, which should be somewhat easier to find out than "debuts" that occurred anywhere in this state!

3: this might seem implied &/or obvious, but, naturally, performer(s) with the ultimate "connection": being born &/or raised here in the Garden State!

4: how 'bout all the performers out there who've yet to make their debut performances yet?

5: also, & I know this point is virtually the opposite of the previous 4, but let's not make people return here who've already been here so far this year, or who'll be here sometime within the next 3 months, know what I mean? I'm sure most of them wouldn't mind returning here more than once, but why do that when there are so many other venues to play throughout the country, right?

Another additional thought: You people might not think I'm 90-something% serious about this, but I sort of am 90something% serious about this campaign that I'm trying to start here! I mean, it's not as if this is some secret political operation, à la Watergate, or a "hit list" to kill somebody, or some group of people... 1st of all, I would never take part in anything as illegal as either of those situations, & 2nd of all, I already mentioned above that getting the (in this case) performer(s) has been the easier part when compared to getting everybody else to notice... Besides, it's better to go through life with (1) a sense of humor (since who doesn't like that?) & (2) hope that entertaining (& innocent) stuff like this can happen when enough people take notice & come to some sort of consensus (for lack of a better word) as to who the "featured performer" should be at 1 of these types of events!
EDIT: this will be my (un)official slogan these next 3 months!

...look more like this in late June!

3/9/14

Malaysia Airlines loses contact with Boeing 777-200; fate of passengers and crew unknown

In strange (and currently on-going) international news, Malaysian Airlines has lost a Boeing 777 that was en route from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia to Beijing, China. The nearly 800,000 pound plane was carrying 239 people, and while it may sound almost impossible with modern radar and technology to lose contact with a plane of its size, it's true:

From a CBS News report
"The airline, speaking several hours after the plane had been due to land in the Chinese capital, said it was still too early so say whether the aircraft had crashed."
The report went on to say that the plane may have landed in Nanming in the south of China, due to loss of contact with air traffic controllers that took place while cruising at 10,700 meters over the South China Sea, a mere couple of hours after it took off.

Fate Unknown

All next of kin have been notified of the strange occurrence, and are understandably fraught with confusion and grief, but as it stands at the time of this post, Malaysian and Vietnamese authorities are working jointly to locate the missing aircraft, but have little no to evidence of its fate.

The airline's official spokesman has said that the "focus of the airline is to work with the emergency responders and authorities and mobilize its full support."

Is anyone to blame?

A top executive at the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam has reported that the plane didn't make a check as it was flying between Malaysia and Ho Chi Minh City, stating that no code appeared in its system. A point of interest that is corroborated by the Chinese Aviation Administration is that the agency has verified the loss of contact took place while the plane was over Malaysia.

The pilot of the plane was by Malaysian Captain Zaharie Ahmad Shah, who has logged a total of 18,365 flying hours, and has been employed by Malaysia Airlines since 1981. 

If it is found that the plane has crashed, it would be the second crash involving a Boeing 777 in less than a year's time. In July of last year, an Asiana Airlines 777 crash landed in San Francisco, killing three people and injuring dozens more passengers. In spite of that, the 777 is a very safe plane that celebrated a 19-year fatality-free history up until that point.