TV LAND: Ugly Betty and Britney

I'm back in school, so I haven't been posting, but I always have this body issue stuff on my mind.

* Britney Spears: I saw her VMA performance before it was splashed on the news, and had the same impression--woah she's like a zombie! And while I noticed that she wasn't all cut abs, I think the focus on "she was embarrassingly out of shape" was stupid. She still makes a bikini look like a pleasant place to be. As usual, it annoys me when multiple media sources comment on Britney's body looking bad, when she looks thinner than average - what would you then think as a girl who's of average weight? That's you're grossly overweight? Supa fat?

Alicia Keyes disappointed me a bit, because I'm used to her being on the fashion forefront; but her Donna Summer get up was just an Afro version of the purple 80s look that Madonna's been sporting. Still, she was rocking the thigh-butt combo and I'm all for that! That's how Britney should approach this shit. Just take your hips and strut them.

Oh, and lest we forget... the best thing about the VMAs is there was a lot of great music this year. I want that Alicia song! I want that Foo Fighters/Serge Tankian duo! And even the Brit song was alright.



* I bought the Ugly Betty season dvd. This show is the shit as far as Love Yourself goes. In the first few episodes you see Betty struggle with not fitting in at a fashion magazine, but then she soon realizes she's a cool person and has no reason to feel ashamed--and from then on in, she owns the office. I love this babe. And unlike most Ugly Duckling shows, they don't give her a makeover. (Well if you remember the real story of the Ugly Duckling, the duck turned out not to be ugly... it's just that she was a swan, not a duck! Let that be a lesson to you.)

:-)

As the song says: Wear Sunscreen

Quickee post from New York Times, as I prep for tomorrow.

"When it comes to how we treat our birthday suits, it seems, we are like 2-year-olds: more concerned with the wrapping and ribbons than with the present itself. We spend billions of dollars a year on makeup and skin-care products, yet we’re slipshod about the one measure that dermatologists emphasize is essential for the long-term health, strength and bounce of our skin: guarding it against ultraviolet radiation.

That means applying full-spectrum sunscreen every day of the year, and by the gob, not the gossamer, and reapplying it later even if you’re in a bad mood and don’t feel like it. It also means skipping the tanning salons, forever decoupling the words “fit” and “tanned,” and retreating from the fiercest light of midday, back to a shady oasis, where you can contemplate the complexity, multidexterity and deep beauty of the organ called skin."

While I'm not guilty of putting on make-up all morning, I do forget the sunscreen. Doh!

What Bubbles Knows!

There are some rockers in this world who would be considered hawt even if they were electricians. (We had a remerch a couple years ago at work, and the electrician and head worker were, we all agreed, hawt.)

But there are others who are not sort of Mainstream Pretty... but there is one thing rock music can imbue you with, if you let it, and that's Attitude.

I'm not saying these people love themselves Deep Down Inside; but when they get on stage or a photo shoot, whether they're shorter than a hobbit (Prince), fuzzy-headed (Gene Simmons), bald (Melissa Etheridge), overweight (Missy Elliott), or just sort of odd looking, they ACT like they are Hot Shit. They strut it like every person in the audience wants to sleep with them, and in consequence, a great percentage do.

There's a hilarious character on Little Britain who is ginormously fat, and she's always throwing off her towel in belief that every man desires her. Of course the joke is that she (the fat suit) is quite scary, but I love her 'Tude. She's got 'Tude down pat.

"Call me Bubbles, dahling, everybody does!"

It goes beyond believing you're hot-good-looking. What I'm admiring here is not exactly sex appeal, but confidence. Believing you're smart, or funny, or successful--that you're in charge of your life, and happy with what you're doing with it. Gene Simmons is just hilarious to watch because, while he's a kind and affectionate person, he just bloody believes in himself and his abilities. And if he hasn't slept with the 4000 women he claims, it's probably close to that. But the guy is not, by any stretch of the imagination, traditionally good looking.

A lot of people dislike arrogance, and I'll be the first to say I don't like arrogance coming from an idiot (yes Guy Who Took Over My Department and Was an Utter Fool, I'm talking about you); but otherwise, we all ought to have a least a sprinkling of it. Especially women, who are often raised either to be self-effacing, or to believe the only way to be sexy is by conforming to a Hollywood beauty standard.

Channel a little Mick once in awhile.

Gene Simmons advice to his daughter.

"What I tell Sophie, when we talk about life in general is, 'I hope you grow up to be Sophie and not the girlfriend of some guy,'" he explains. "Women have to stop defining themselves by men. You take the guy's last name. Every women's magazine says 'The 10 things he's interested in,' 'What is he thinking?' 'Where is this going?' 'Do I have my mother's hips?' and every one of those articles weakens you."