N is for Leader

Graphic language warning!!!
"I am your leader, yes, I am your leader. If you're no believer, suck a big dick."
I'd like to say the only music I like is neurologically stimulating; that I only listen to symphonies and Indie bands. Unfortunately I'm hooked on lyrics like the ones above or "Star ships are meant to fly, hands up and touch the sky" and "Yo what I gotta do to show these bitches that I own 'em".
Yes, I am a Nicki Minaj fan. But the song that I've been thinking about lately is I Am Your Leader.
The lyrics featured above got me to thinking today. As a female rapper, Nicki, and others before and after her, has had a rough time throught her musical career. In one YouTube video I watched she explains the difference between a powerful man and a powerful woman in the biz. The man is "bossed up", while the woman is a bitch. Hardly fair when both genders are doing the same amount of work and wielding the same amount of power.
Nicki and the characters she creates push boundaries. The song I am your leader features her in a dollhouse-like setting in various costumes and wigs. It's like a cartoon in watermelon colours. But what I really love about this song is the message, which I interpret to be "I am a leader in women's careers, including but not limited to male dominated careers; if you don't like it, assume your previous occupation and pay homage to the penis, because I will not concern myself with you".
Cheers Nicki. If only I could say that to people without them being completely offended.

Go Carley Rae!

A couple friends of mine mentioned the poor quality of Carley Rae Jepsen's music video for Call Me Maybe and how ridiculous it is that the man, whose affections Ms. Carley is trying to win,  (spoiler alert) turns out to be gay.

I disagree. It's a cheesy video, but how many music videos feature someone, openly gay, hitting on someone of the same sex? I think it's a funny twist that not only supports same sex flirting/dating/relationships, but makes fun of heterosexual ways of thinking. Wouldn't we dislike the video more if she got the guy? Wouldn't it be boring? I certainly think so.

Take a Taylor Swift video, say Love Story for example. Typical heterosexual boy-girl interactions. They fall in love, he has to go, he comes back, they get married. In no way am I saying that Taylor Swift is homophobic, but her video is representative of a set of beliefs that has been around for a while.

Now Carley Rae makes fun of this idea the romantic heterosexual boy-girl meet cute, immortalized in song and film. On one level it's sad that the girl can't and will never snag the guy; on the other hand, it's humourous because some women can relate to crushing on a guy, but get shut down when she finds out he's gay. Carley is calling attention to other sexual orientations in pop music videos. It's not just Lady Gaga who's got her eye on representing the LGBT community.


Next stop: Justin Bieber featuring drag kings and queens!

Heart Harp

The first heartstring severs.
Blood bursts out; a burbling brook of
memories, sex, and love.

There goes number two;
limbs twist and scuttle in
to fill the aching, breaking pieces.

The third snaps
lashing my brain for re-hashing thoughts of
you and me and me and us.

The fourth whips around
to lick my face
where you kiss me goodnight.

Five and six send you flying free.
I am left, a bleeding, broken,
bruised and busted body.

The Tiny Blue Room

Silence.

In the tiny blue room.

It's when you choke on your voice

and there's no noise

that can break it down.

You fling your body against the walls

only to leave red stains; and the footfalls

of dancing flies can be found.

So you decay minute by minute

and no matter how you spin it

the maggots will continue to feed on your soul.

In silence.

In the tiny blue room.

It's the quiet
Before the shock. Before you sink.

Blinded by an artificial light
      you breathe in
               step, step
And plunge!

You take your first gulp of water
It is now you find out that you are a fish.

Zombie Love

I'm 6 feet under.
I want to claw my way out
But the grave digger's packed it down.

I long for the touch of your hand
The kiss of the sun
But I'm 6 feet under
                      underneath feelings.

To Bob Barker

I heard on the radio this morning that Bob Barker, host of The Price is Right and animal rights activist, has been saying the the Calgary Stampede promotes cruelty to animals; to which I can only reply:

GET A LIFE!

Barker put Alberta on the map, when he protested the Edmonton Zoo for keeping Lucy, an old elephant, rather than sending her to a more natural habitat.
1. Lucy is freaking old. She will probably not make the trip AND
2. Even if she does, she will have lost everything and everyone that she knows in addition to not knowing how to live in such a different environment.
3. The cost of transporting a really old elephant that may die enroute anyways is ridiculous. (Also, from what I hear, the Edmonton Zoo will not be acquiring any more animals non-native to the praries. Hopefully.)

Now, Barker is sticking his nose in to Alberta once again, claiming that a 100-year-old festival is cruel towards animals. Again, let's be honest; perhaps the Stampede is not the best form of loving our furry friends, but think about this:

Barker could be protesting the way humans farm animals; in order to produce more, fattier meats, humans have essentially eliminated any grazing or open areas in the farms that produce chickens for large processors. They're locked in cages or small pens, in completely un-hygienic conditions which enable the spread of disease rapidly.
Barker could be promoting healthier farming, supporting small, independent farmers who still allow their cattle to graze, their chickens to run free, etc. But he's not.

Barker is picking on one of the smallest issues this world has. By choosing this course of action, Barker is drawing attention away from REAL suffering of animals at the hands of humans. People knock hunting, saying it's harsh and cold-blooded. What is more cold blooded than penning animals up so you  can have a fatty steak at the end of your hard day behind a desk?

Barker wants to be an animal rights activist does he? I think he should go back to when animals were first domesticated; that was when cruelty REALLY began.