Media Consumer Report

Now considering I am a huge media consumer, it will be interesting to see my record of how much media I consumed since the last time I posted a similar blog entry. Being that now I am in college I predict that I have used my computer over at least hundred times I am constantly on it checking emails, checking myspace and of course writing blogs. So now I can confirm I am what a student in my class referred to herself as, a media whore! I would say that I spend more than 4 hours on the computer every day and more than 2 hours a day listening to my ipod. My mother told me once that all I do is listen to music and do homework on my computer, now more than ever I actually believe that she is right! I have to say I don't watch T.V as much as I used to, being that college life is so stressful I barely have time for it. So I have to say now that I'm twice as much of a media consumer now then I was when I made my first entry. I think that the blog posts play a big part in that.

Victoria Secret Looses a Angel

Tyra banks has renounced her title as one of the Victoria Secret models, she was one of the first and the oldest members of the Victoria Secret angels. Her model mates say that she acted as the mother of pact, and are sad to see her go, but they wish her the best of luck even though I don't think she needs it. With her show America's Next Top Model being one of the highly syndicated shows on television and her talk show getting more and more viewers everyday I doubt she will struggle to make ends meat. She also was the first African American female on the cover of Sports Illustrated. Tyra says that being a Victoria Secret angel was one of the best years of her life, but know I guess she feels that it is time for her to retire from modeling completely and pass the torch on to someone new. Someone once told me that it is good to retire when you've reached the peak of your career, that way you end on a good note, rather then retiring after taking a pitfall in the industry. I guess Trya decided to take the same advice.

Move over men, the Women of 2007 are coming!!!

Well it's no secret who's ruling the new incoming year. Super star celebrities such as J.Lo, Kimora Simmons ,Beyonce and many more are starting the new year of with a bang! These three are making history in the entertainment, cosmetic, perfume and clothing industry. Beyonce and her mother Tina Knowles have released a clothing line called House of Dereon and also Beyonce has signed on to be the new face of Tommy Hilfiger's new perfume called Superstar. Beyonce has released her Sophomore album called B-day and it was the number one album in the country. Kimora Simmons who is the founder and owner of Baby Phat clothing and jewelery company has also a make up line and released a perfume line called Goddess, this perfume is actually doing very well in the states. Kimora Simmon's clothing is still the most worn female clothing in the Urban culture. J.Lo now like Kimmora Simmon's has a clothing company and jewelery line, she has now released her third perfume called Live and her first perfume Glow is the best selling perfume in the country and she is selling millions more everyday. There is talk now that J.Lo is planning on releasing a fourth perfume that smells like the top of a baby's head, I am sure that perfume will do very well also in department store shelves everywhere.

The Down Low

I was watching this show on BET and about men on the "Down Low”, like many people I was confused about what this word had meant, I heard the word before but didn't really understand the meaning of it. This show was an hour documentary on about men who live double lives. The men that were interviewed on this show were men who were married with wives but on the down low lived a gay lifestyle. The term “Down Low" meant when someone is doing something secretly, now it means men who pretend to be straight but secretly enjoyed being with men. Some of the stories that I heard were just heartbreaking! A woman who had been married to her husband for twelve years found out that he was on the down low for about 3 yrs after they meet. They had a family with 3 children. One day she walked in on her husband with another man. She says that she then went to the clinic to get tested for any STD's and the Doctor told her she tested positive for HIV. She later found out she contracted the disease from her husband who had many sexual male partners that he didn't used protection with. When the woman was asked “why do you think he didn't use protection? She responded” because that would've meant that he had to admit to him self that he was gay, which to this day he still refuses to accept”. The women said that this kind of thing should be considered a crime, because of the fact that he put her and their children in danger. She says she believes that her case she be thought of as first degree murder because of the fact that her husband knew about his virus and put her at risk anyway, she feels that she is slowly dieing everyday.

Here is the link to the story Link

Here is a another link about men on the "Down Low"

Makeover Shows!
There are so many current makeover shows on T.V right now, such as Queer Eye For The Straight Guy ,TLC's What to wear and another show called 10 Years Younger. All of these shows display people who are not doing their best to keep their appearance looking up to date,so when the hosts of the show What Not To Wear which are Stacy and Cliton also known as the fashion police come to your town and put you on the show, that means you need some serous help in the fashion department. Now at times Stacy and Cliton can be a bit harsh and somtimes just plain mean! but they do it all out love, because they want you to leave their show looking and feeling like a better person. Here is the way the show works, one of the family members or love ones have to nominate a person in need of a fashion makeover,then they send in a tape of the person wearing some of the uglyliest colthes they've ever worn, but the catch is that the person being nominated does not know they are being taped and will have to follow all of Stacey and Clitons rules of fashion! Stacy and Cliton then look over the tape and decide if that person is really in need of some fashion help. If that person is picked Stacey and Cliton come to the city the person lives in and then the person is forced to their secret footage that their family have friends had submitted to the show. After some heavily coaching on what to wear and what not to wear they put that person to the test. They give that person a credit card with five thousand darllors on it to spend on a new wardrobe. Others shows like Queer eye for the straight guy gives tips on how to be a better person in general, covering things like fashion,cooking,and relationships. The show 10 Years Younger follows the same guide lines but is particularly show primarily for wemon who look 1o years older then what they are. One particular episode I remember was when this women had severe acne problems and a lot of damaged to the skin, she also had ciggarette and coffee stain marks on her teeth, then she compalined that she was to over weight and she wanted to do somthing about it. The host of the show Mark Montano sent the woman to a dermatoligist then to a dentist and then sent her to a personal trainer. the woman was also sent to a make up artist and a fashion exspert to complete the woman's over all transfermation. When I saw the woman after her make over she looked and said she felt like a new person, and she was! I know it sounds corny but I like makeover show's that not only make over the body but also the soul too. In that particular case they gave this woman more confidence and gave her a better out look on life. Other makeover show's like the Swan is somthing I truley dissagree with. Plastic surgery is not always the best option to lookng like a better person. I just feel like its very fake and not normal. I think that show is sending a message to wemon across America to be ashamed of their flaws and instead of embracing their imperfections as beauty, they would just snip, nip, and tuck it away.

Disney Channels Leading Ladies

It is a known fact that the Disney channel is known for their popular shows that appeal to the tweens and young children around the world. Recently they have started a Phenom with the teenage shows of today, and considering that in some ways I would like to think I am a feminist I am very proud that the stars of those show are young ladies. First they started with Hilary duff and the Lizzie McGuire show this was a popular show among that teenage girls around the nation. Now I admit myself that the show did not display her best acting skills but that's not the point. The show boasted her career and teenage girls around America wanted to be like Lizzie McGuire, because she played a teenage girl going through the same problems all teenaged girls faced at that time, puberty! This show opened up many doors for her, she soon released a clothing line in Target and a CD called Metamorphis that debuted #1 on the music build board charts. her show soon was the most watch show on Disney channel and the highest paid actress on Disney. Now again I'm not saying that Hilary Duff is a great singer, I'm not even saying she's a great actress, I 'm just saying that this girl became a superstar and held a lot a power at the tender age of 14. The show ended when she became 16 because Disney channel has a rule that a show can only do so many episodes. Since Disney Channel has so much success with the Lizzie McGuire they followed up with another show called That So Raven. The leading lady in this show was no stranger to the spot light and acting. Unlike Hilary Duff Raven Simone had been acting since she was a little girl on the Cosby Show. Now the show wasn't exactly a original concept like Lizzie McGuire but it was about a a teenage girl who could see the future and sometimes her visions causes her to get in weird situations, now even though this show may sound weird to many it is a great comedy series to all teen Disney lovers. Raven Simone is now a house hold name. She has her own clothing line, makeup line,music CD and stared in two number 1 Disney channel original movies Cheetah Girls 1&2. These girls both have foundations helping under privliged kids and both give back to their communties.My point is it's great to see young powerful teenage girls giving back. It is also great that girls have great teen idols to look up to. You can argue that these girls have no talent, but you cannot argue that these girls haven't influenced society in a positive way. these young women are creating a name for themselves and doing something positive with their fame.

"Can You hear Me now?"
Some people say that the cell phone commercials or the most stupid commercial on television, but I beg to differ. I think that some cell phones company's such as Verizon wireless have some great catch phrases for their commercials with the popular slogan "Can you hear me now", and I also like the Cingular commercials. Now that Nextel and Sprint have merged into one company there commercials are a little more edgier, they have the catch praise "Where you at." Nextel and Sprint have used popular term, rappers such as Fabulous, Phat Joe and Snoop dog have promoted their popular two way walky talky also known as the "chirp". Teens are always trying the get the coolest cell phones with the latest technology, and celebs are no stranger to cell phones. When Paris Hilton got her Twoway cell phones with diamonds put on it, the whole world went out and bought studs to put on their phones. I think this was a wise decsion made to put celebs in these cell phone comercials, this is what makes Nextel more appealing to teens today. What I don't see are a lot of T-Mobile phones, even though I think T-Mobile company sales the worst phones on this planet. They have terrible service and constantly missed dropped calls. The only reason T-Mobile is even in business is because of their pretty colors the Razor phones comes in. When I watch their commercials I don't see anything special about their phones but the way they look, unlike a company like Verizon wireless who are constantly advertising new ways they have improve their phones. The only reason people buy T-mobile phones is because they are cheaper than many phones on the market right now, but I would rather pay more money for a Verizon wireless or sprint phone an get great service, than buy a T-Mobile for a cheaper price and get a phone that's very pretty but has crappy service. T-Mobile also has the worst commericals, they are so boring, sometimes they have the occasional celebrity on there commercials, but they have have such a bad reputation where I live that no one bother to buy the phone cause they know That T-mobile has the worst service. You will be better off getting a prepaid phone then ever buying a T-mobile.

Ugly Betty !

I love this show! I first heard about this show from a friend because she knew that it was my dream to work for a fashion magazine, but I was convinced that I wouldn't like it, even after looking at the previews. What sparked my interest about the show was that I heard my teacher talking about it, saying that the show was actually very good and the script was written cleverly. finally after my friend talked to me forever about the show I just relented and decided to watch. I went to the ABC website and clicked on one of the webisodes, and to my surprise I couldn't stop laughing! I sat their for two hours and watched every Ugly Betty episode. what I love about the show the most is that The actress playing Betty(America Ferrera) is completely anti-model they picked a everyday looking girl to play this part, they didn't try to pick a actress who looks like a model and dress her down to play this role. The woman playing the part of Betty is much more believable. The character Betty is a girl from Queens,New york who is given a job by the founder of Mode magazine Bradford Meade (Alan Dale). Betty was hired in the attempt to get his son Daniel Meade (Eric Mabius) head editor of mode magazine to stop sleeping with his assistance's. Betty is hardly a top model but well qualified for the job, but she soon realizes that honesty and kindness is valued everywhere but fashion. All through the shows Betty is learning how to adjust her new job as assistant to the editor, but the adjustment is not a easy one. Betty is trying to find a place for herself at Mode magazine. Even though everyone around her is screaming change! she refuses to change her look for anyone, this is what makes Betty and this show unique. I love this show because Betty continues to break all the rules in that she is not the typically 5'10 size 2 girls working at mode magazine. I think that Ugly Betty is giving a real look for aspiring journalist in fashion.

Black Star Power
In my last post I mentioned how MTV is the generation latest music channel, another network that is watched by millions of teenagers all over the world is BET (black entertainment television). This show was established in 1979 and primarily for African Americans to watch. The BET slogan is "Black Star Power". In some ways MTV and BET are a like. BET has some reality shows but not as many as MTV. BET plays all R&B, Rap, and soul music, and on Sunday's they play Gospel music, they don't play Rock or pop music. BET also give news on what’s happening in the African American community, not only news about rappers and other celebrities, but they talk about problems in Africa, breast cancer, and how HIV AIDS is the number one killer in African American women. Black history Month is one of the biggest celebration months on BET. They take black History Month very seriously, and they educate viewers about black history. BET has a global impact on African American adults and teenagers around the world. The number of viewers watching BET is getting larger each day.