i fear i'm getting old.

Dear MTV:

What has happened to you, old friend? I mean, I know that you've been going downhill for the past few years. Even though we've all complained about the lack of actual music on "Music Television," you still haven't changed your programming and have in fact become far worse than we could have ever imagined. The bad reality programming, constant product placement, and lack of knowledge about anything that should/could be actually considered music has become painful to watch. At first I chalked my disgust with you up to the fact that I was getting older and was less and less into mainstream music. Looking back, I wonder if my shift into the more indie scene was a direct result of your shittiness. I believe that you are, at least in part, to blame for pop music's deterioration into such mindless drivel. It was once cool to watch TRL and hang out at MTV Spring Break. Not so much anymore. Pop music used to be good. Even the stuff that wasn't good was at least entertaining and the "singers" could perform the shit out of it. For example, see below:



And that brings me to the main point of this letter: last night's VMA show. It was, in a word, pathetic. While I could spend the remainder of this letter railing solely on Britney's performance, I know that it is not your fault. Sure, you should have known that she would have flopped, but I imagine that you were looking for the ratings and figured that Britney would be the best bet for an opener. Fine. I can deal with you wanting to exploit her.

My main beef with the awards show was the horrible production. It was complete amateur hour: microphones weren't turned on, people didn't know what they were doing, cameramen and stagehands were running around like crazy, and people weren't introduced properly. An absolute shitshow. You've been running this show since 1984 and you'd think y'all would have it together by now. Apparently not.

Furthermore, this wasn't much of an awards show. According to my count, there were only 5 or 6 awards passed out all evening-- pretty worthless. Far too much time was dedicated to stopping in on the random "parties" taking place throughout the hotel. All in all, not a cool idea. Following Kanye around a packed VIP room is not my idea of good television. The absence of many of the awards simply supports your obvious drift from presenting music videos as an art form. You added lame-ass categories like "Quadruple Threat" and "Monster Single" and took away actual art awards like Best Direction, Choreography, Editing, and the Video Vanguard Award. Finally, the graphic/light display that was used on the stage, between commercial breaks, and to present the nominees was absolutely mindboggling. I would not be surprised if people broke into seizures after watching those for a mere 10 seconds.

In essence, this was a deplorable year for your award show and I hope you sincerely "kick it up a notch" for the movie awards and next year's VMAs. I know that you're network is struggling and you've made it obvious to everyone why. Start playing videos again. Invest in some more classic design work. Get the artists back on your side. I'm all for new things, but sometimes it's best to go back to the basics.

We've had some good times together, friend. I want you back. The old you.

xoxo,
Kiki

my childhood, via youtube.

I've been doing some major reminiscing....













Just try to get through some of these without singing along. I swear every word comes back to you. Oh man, I miss the good old days.

"she dresses like a gypsy!"

Sorry I've been so MIA with posting this week. There's no real reason for it, just feeling lazy in the summer.

I've got a particularly crazy coworker who is, quite possibly, one of the meanest people I've ever known. Let's call him Crazy Bill (I'm obviously not feeling creative here). He says bad things about just about everyone in the office whenever he's annoyed with them, which is often. He confides in Erin pretty often, so I asked her if he had ever said anything about me. The quote above was from yesterday, when he was trying to show his displeasure in my taste. I found the comment absolutely hysterical. In comparison to the things I know he says about other coworkers, this is very tame and I find it (though unintentional) rather endearing.

I spend far too much time thinking about my style and how people may perceive me in that style. I like to look different, but my budget doesn't allow me to delve into anything too fancy: I'm usually stuck at Forever 21 and Gap like the rest of the world. My roommate (let's call her Bex) and I were having a conversation about this not too long ago. I hate how style has become so casual and laidback: I really don't like jeans and flip flops. If I had my way, I would wear dresses and heels every day with matching hats, maybe gloves. Basically, time warp back about 60 years. Unfortunately this just isn't practical today: people wouldn't care, wouldn't appreciate it, etc. Also, the time-honored tradition of custom made clothes as been completely uprooted by the ready-to-wear business which makes it difficult to find clothing that doesn't look like everything else out there. I wish dressmakers were still affordable, where I could bring in my fabric and get something that fit me perfectly and totally matched my style. Instead, I've got to buy run of the mill things and attempt to make them look special, but I find myself falling in a rut all too often.

Now, maybe if I could learn how to sew decently, I could enjoy working on some of these:

al's my man.

I sincerely hope you all watched Live Earth on Saturday. I got up at about 9:30 with plans to head down to the show at the Mall, but considering it was a bajillion degrees outside and it wasn't supposed to be much of a show, I decided against it. Instead, I stayed in and watched the performances from other countries... for about 6 hours. No joke.

Most of the performances were incredible, but further research this morning proved that Bravo didn't show some of the best ones. I mean, Damien Rice and David Gray performing Que Sera Sera TOGETHER?! Very very cool. Bravo also failed to show Bloc Party, Toni Colette and the Finish, Jack Johnson, or UB40. No fun. Luckily I can watch everything on MSN. Sting and the Police were incredible (not surprising) as were the Smashing Pumpkins, Beastie Boys, and Madonna with Gogol Bordeloo doing "La Isla Bonita"... sooo good. Even James Blunt impressed with his rendition of Cat Stevens' "Wild World." Jane Goodall was there, which is pretty incredible. She was even more impressive with her chimpanzee impression.

I thought the Live Earth program did a great job of focusing on the idea that I was taught as the "Tragedy of the Commons," which, in sum, recognizes the importance of the individual as part of the larger group. If we each take a small step, the impact will be massive. While big changes get a lot of press and make an impact on our surroundings, they certainly are much more difficult to orchestrate, take time to get passed through legislation, and put the work in someone else's hands. If we each become responsible for ourselves and our actions, things can change very quickly and very drastically.

I'll get off my soapbox, but I just wanted to highlight this incredibly important event and its possible impacts around the world. I hope it works... we've started on this way too late.

won't you be my neighbor?

My office building has these ridiculous flat screen TVs in the lobby and in the elevators. They post news headlines, weather reports, words of the day, and other random-ass crap. Today they posted a particularly disturbing theory: Mr. Rogers is to blame for the narcissism of youth today. W.T.F.

Further research led me to a blasphemous article in The Wall Street Journal. That's right, folks, a supposedly credible newssource is blaming Fred Rogers for the corruption of our children.

The supposed "problem" with Mr. Rogers is that he taught us all that we were special and are loved just the way we are. Instead, he should have been telling us that there is always room for improvement and we need to work hard in order to be loved or viewed as a contributing member of society. I'm all for teaching hard work, but what is so wrong with feeling special?!? As much as I feel that our generation is consumed by ignorant, self-fulfilled twits, I also believe that there is not nearly enough love. For many kids, Mr. Rogers was probably the only person who ever made them feel special, and I thank him for that. The problem with our generation is not Mr. Rogers, it's the parents who believe they can buy their children's love and that sentiment is passed on to the children. The article in the WSJ discusses a professor who is sick of his students pestering him for extra points. Mr. Rogers didn't do that buddy, the parents who bought their kids toys to keep them quiet did.

Mr. Rogers is an icon of all that is right in the world. He was peaceful, intelligent, friendly, and made those around him happy. What more can you ask for?

The U.S. Senate (take that, WSJ!) issued the following statement about Mr. Rogers shortly after his death:

"Through his spirituality and placid nature, Mr. Rogers was able to reach out to our nation's children and encourage each of them to understand the important role they play in their communities and as part of their families. More importantly, he did not shy away from dealing with difficult issues of death and divorce but rather encouraged children to express their emotions in a healthy, constructive manner, often providing a simple answer to life's hardships."

And finally, to prove that Mr. Rogers promotes good behavior, I'll tell you my most favorite Mr. Rogers story. Mr. Rogers drove a Chevy Impala for many, many years. One day it was stolen out of the TV studio lot. A reporter happened to be with him when he found out and the story was quickly broadcast on newstations across the country. Within a few days, the car was returned to its spot at the studio with a note that read "If we'd known it was yours, we never would have taken it!"

RIP, Mr. Rogers. Shame lies in the WSJ and their ridiculous writings.