A Cornball Blogger

Yesterday, I blogged on the issue of  Beyonce being voted the most beautiful woman in the world.  I had no problem with her being thought of as beautiful as she is indeed a beautiful woman, no doubt about that.  She could even be a front runner for most beautiful celebrity.   I have no problem with the honor bestowed on her or anyone else.  Instead, I have a problem with the last three words in the title, ‘in the world’.   I think it is misleading when those three words are used, it is misleading.  Read more on what I wrote here.

I am very argumentative and opinionated so of course I took it upon myself to argue why I thought it was wrong to name the lovely, oh and BLACK Beyonce the most beautiful woman in the world.  My take was that it was not a very level playing field as I am sure the other countries that make up the world did not not send a delegate.  (Is this another example of the USA’s egotistical side?  Everything has to be the best/biggest/etc in the world?).

A few hours after publishing, I noticed that I a reader had left a comment.  I was excited as I love reading comments from readers but my excitement quickly turned to disappointment and a tinge of embarrassment when I read the following posted by one Nanci Lynn.

U R SUCH A LOSER!! Firstly, we all know there are other beautiful woman in the world prob more beautiful than Beyonce and if they put your wife , the girl next door or any of those ebony beauties on the cover someone else would say the same thing you’re saying about Beyonce about them!! Beauty IS in the eye of the beholder but if a publication, who has NEVER put an ALL black woman on their cover decides they want to FINALLY give and black woman props and if THEY feel she deserves that title along with all the other white woman who have graced their pages (i hope you also complained when they were on the cover) than let it be!! How many times are positive images of african americans projected to the world!! They wont even give our wonderful president his props because he’s a black man!! How could a person of color complain at all!! Yes, beauty is skin deep and Beyonce is the one young artist who we never see drinking, doing drugs, sleeping around with different men, gossiping!! She’s always rehearsing, working on herself and everyone that knows her says she has the best heart, character, morals and treats her friends and family with respect and love!! She deserves her title and prob much more!!! Celebrate our african beauty and if u cant give props where due SHUT UP CORNBALL!

At first I thought of deleting the post before anyone could read it and spare myself the embarrassment of being called Loser and Cornball.  Then I thought of responding in kind and throw out a few barbs of my own.   Cooler head prevailed and I decided against either.  I reread her comments and formulated a level headed response:

Must it always come down to being a BLACK thing? I am not taking anything away from Beyonce. I have nothing against her. I find her quite attractive and one of my favorite female voices around. (After Mariah). Giving her the title of the world’s most beautiful is quite a stretch, won’t you say? After all, like I said in my blog, the world is bigger than Hollywood.

And please go easy on the name calling. My blog is called my take for a reason. You could disagree without malice.

Thank you for reading and commenting.

Nanci, if you are reading this, please note that my blog is called My Vuze and I always reiterate that it is MY TAKE and everyone is entitled to their own, without being chastised.  I like to think that democracy is alive and well, maybe I am wrong.  Also note that had Obama been named most handsome man in the world, I would have felt exactly the same, nothing against the Prez.  I have no argument that Beyonce is everything you have mentioned BUT there are others like her around the WORLD who is all of that AND MORE, did they have a chance to compete? Or was this judging open only to American celebrities?

Note:  I looked upthe word ‘Cornball’ and found out that I am either a popcorn rolled into a ball and flavored with molasses, a person who indulges in clichés or sentimentality, a country bumpkin or I am just unsophisticated.   Sadly, I am a bit of each but again, that’s just my take.

 

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• Beyonce world’s most beautiful woman? (myvuze.wordpress.com)
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Beyonce world’s most beautiful woman?

Beyonce VMA Red Carpet (Photo credit: mp3waxx.com)

People Magazine voted Beyonce the world’s most beautiful woman.  Seriously, who is in charge of coming up with these most beautiful/sexiest/handsome  man/woman/couple/baby in the world?  How is it that the competitors are mostly always American celebrities?  What about the rest of the world? How about the girl next door?  Did they check the jungles of Africa? Last time I checked there were some ebony beauties back there with skin as smooth as silk, no makeup, no weave and no enhancements.  They worked with their kids attached to them, now that’s beauty.

Now on the topic of beautiful, have they met my wife? I think, and not because she’s my wife, that she is not only the world’s most beautiful woman but also person/wife/mother/daughter/friend.  Beauty is indeed in the eyes of the beholder and to me it is more than just a pretty face. (My wife does have a pretty face too).  Based on looks, I see way more beautiful females  here in my city on almost a daily basis. (Not to take anything away from Beyonce as she is eye candy material herself).

Beautiful to me is more than just skin deep.  It is your character, your moral values, the way you treat those around you,  How you are as a mother, friend, daughter, son, wife,  the way you face adversity.  Possessing a good heart.  Independent and not relying on the nanny to take care of your children.  Classy.  These are some of the things that make a woman beautiful.

(I would also question the credibility of the voting as J-Lo was also once voted as the world’s most beautiful woman. Yep, that J-Lo).

It is time to dispense with the misleading monikers like most beautiful woman in the world.   Celebrities have got enough fame as it is.  Put the average Jane or  Joe in the spotlight instead.  There is actually life outside of Hollywood.  So maybe we can say Beyonce is the most beautiful woman in her family? Ok, maybe Hollywood then? But that’s as far as I will go.  Except if it’s my wife because she really is the most beautiful woman in the world.

Just my take,  congrats to Beyonce.

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To Protect and Coddle

Ariane Friedrich (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

While browsing the online news this morning, I came across a story where a famous German athlete was being stalked.  Read here.  This isn’t anything new.  People, especially famous people, are stalked all the time.  What made this blog worthy was what transpired after.

The stalker, to use the athlete Ariane Friedrich‘s own words, obviously ‘messed with the wrong person’ as she is trained as a police officer.  Not only that but she also took it upon herself to post the stalker’s information including name and address, on her Facebook page.  She also posted excerpts from the email he sent her.

So what’s wrong with that?  Well it seems that some people, including the German authorities has an issue with this outing.  Apparently her actions contravened their online data protection law, which makes it illegal to share information about someone online.    “As much as I can understand your anger about the stalker, you as a police officer should not just pillory somebody on the Internet,” one person wrote on Friedrich’s Facebook page.

In contrast to the negative reactions, I tend to agree with Ariane.  I think she did the right thing.  Maybe this guy is the husband of a wife who doesn’t know about his dark side.  Or maybe he works in an environment where he may need to be monitored.

I think that the law has coddled and protected the privacy of criminals for too long and it is one of the causes of repeat offenses.   I am not saying that as soon as someone is suspected of a crime, their names and pictures should be published.  What I am saying is that when proven guilty beyond a doubt, all privacy protection should be lifted.  Everyone should be made aware that John Doe has committed a crime for which he has been charged.  (One never know who else might be tempted to come forward with more accusations after this).  Sometime the embarrassment of their names and pictures being published could be more effective than a jail term.  (I know of individuals who did time behind bars then upon release, told everyone that they were in another province).

The cold, hard fact is that criminals are not made to take full responsibility for their actions.  In my opinion, victims are doubly victimized.  Once by the perpetrator and then again by the legal system that does all in its power to provide a soft landing for said criminals.

That’s just my take.  What’s yours?

 

 

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Hats off to volunteers!

During a recent banquet at a personal care home in honor of its volunteers, I was touched by the selfless act of the other volunteers around me.  Some were putting in thousands of hours of their time helping the residents.  Considering it is a small nursing home, the number of volunteers present at the banquet was impressive.

I volunteer as a an entertainer on the fourth Friday of every month for one hour.  Because the home is ran by the Seventh Day Adventist Church , Friday evenings is spent celebrating the start of Sabbath.  My job is to lead the residents in song service.

As I sat there listening to the names of volunteers who had put in hundreds and thousands of hours, I felt guilty.  You may ask why would I feel guilty if I am also a volunteer.  Well the reason is that some days I do not feel like fulfilling my obligations.  I know that I only have to show up just one Friday a month but sometimes it seems like so much.  I know it isn’t, especially the fact that it is for just one hour but the effort of leaving the house to go there just doesn’t seem appealing. So that’s why I feel guilty.  Guilty for thinking like that. Guilty for thinking one hour is my limit.

When I do show up, as I do I always do even if’s it’s not always willingly, I do have a great time with the residents. They show their appreciation for my being there and I feel as though I am adding something to their lives.   The look on their faces is priceless.  The hour usually comes way too soon.

Life is about being there for others.  Helping those less fortunate, even if their situation is hopeless.  It’s the reason we are here. Sometimes we may think that as long as we are here for our families and our friends, we are doing our part.  I would not agree with this. There is nothing more fulfilling than time spent helping others.  A nursing home, an animal shelter, no matter where you volunteer, you will go home feeling blessed.   Try it.

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Shopping or family time?

Remember when we were not allowed to shop to shop on Sundays?  Well it’s not that we were not allowed, we couldn’t even if we wanted to.  Why? Because the storekeepers were also not allowed to open up their stores.  It wasn’t a problem as there are seven days in a week and if I needed an extra one to shop then I needed something more than just the ability to shop on Sundays.  I would need an intervention of sorts.

Remember how the law makers tweaked the rule and allowed stores to open but not before 12pm and no later than 6pm?  Some people were excited about this, others weren’t.  The ‘others’ were those who had to work on a Sunday thus sacrificing their family.

Fast forward to present. Present as in today.  Today the newspapers scream,   ‘MORE TIME TO SHOP ON SUNDAYS – Province plans to ease limits on Sunday shopping‘  Ease limits on Sunday shopping? Wasn’t that what they did when they allowed stores to break with tradition and open at noon?

The fabric that holds families together is getting  stretched and worn out by man’s greed.   Corporations dictate when and how much time we could spend with our families.   How about the employees who saw their Sundays off turned into half day offs and now full day Sundays?  Is the sacrifice worth it?  I don’t think so. 

If you an avid shopper who would prefer using your extra time to interact with a Sales Person rather than a family member, I am sorry but you need to reconsider your priorities.  But that’s just my take.

 

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Six Year Old Handcuffed By Police For Throwing Tantrum

I am not sure how I feel about this.  As a Dad with a 5-year-old son, I can’t imagine him being put in handcuffs and thrown in a cell.  I would be devastated!  He’s a kid!

This 6-year-old girl apparently flew in a rage and started destroying her kindergarten classroom (shouldn’t she be in grade school by 6?).  She was ripping stuff off the wall and knocking a shelf over.  (I am not sure what serious damage my 6-year-old would be able to inflict at that age.  Not much).  The cops were called and responded by handcuffing her and hauling her off to jail. (holding cell).

Questions on parenting would surely be raised and so too would questions on the use of restraints by the police.  My take is, there should be a system in place that when there is an issue at an elementary school and the police are called, a social worker or someone qualified to deal with ‘problem kids’ should also be summoned.  Heck, a negotiator can talk a man with a gun into surrendering, imagine what they could do to an unarmed 6-year-old…

Read the article and feel free  to add your take.

http://news.yahoo.com/police-handcuff-ga-kindergartner-tantrum-112459850.html

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Teachers and Report Cards

Reblogged from Musings Of A Daddy:

A couple of weeks ago, I had the pleasure of meeting my cousin's Science and English teachers at his school's 'Meet the Teachers' Event.  I was less than impressed with the meeting.  First, I went to see the English teacher.  She looked at me as though I had interrupted her family supper and asked ME what would I like to know. 

Read more… 465 more words

Food, Glorious Food!

Yes please

Let’s get to the meat of this,  pardon the pun.  I love food. Gimme! Gimme!  Burgers, Pizzas, especially pizzas, Thai, Chinese, (We are still talking about food), Caribbean, (oh I love me Island foods), whatever the food, I love it.  In fact, I am hungry now just writing about food.  It really is a good thing that I am blessed with good genes or I would be obese.  As luck or genes would have it, I think I actually lose weight the more I eat.  Sorry!

With age and a young family of three healthy boys, it became top priority that I pay more attention to my lifestyle and make necessary changes.   I want to play with my kids, not watch them play from the confines of my bed or couch.  I also realize that I do not have to be obese to be unhealthy.

So what am I doing about this?  About two years ago, I discovered the magic of hot water with lemon.  Read my blog about that here.  With this elixir, I went from 195lbs to 180lbs within a few months.  (I am 6″1′).  I also recently joined a weight loss or weight management as I prefer to call it, program.  My work sponsors it for all employees and their spouses.   It is called The Enforcer Ecoaching and is a venture put on by Cleveland Clinic.  Participants receive pedometers to track their daily steps and report to a health coach.  The minimum steps required a day for a healthy lifestyle is 10,000.   This sounds easy until you check your pedometer at the end of the day and find out you have only put in 2000 steps.  You never want to email those figures to Dr. Mike as he would admonish you for not trying.  This means running around my bed trying to add some much-needed steps to the meter.   Working a desk job is no excuse.

Dr. Michael Roizen who is famous in the field of healthy living and the co-writer of a series of books with Dr. Oz called ‘YOU’, is the Ecoach.  He is also the wellness guru at Cleveland Clinic.  Him and his team reply to all my queries and give me regular pats on the back and recommendations.  I once sent in my steps and they were around 6000.  (slow day),  Dr. Mike was not impressed.  He urged me to get them back up to acceptable levels and recommended that I not try for close parking when I go shopping.   I took that one to heart.  All participants of The Enforcer program were also given a free ‘YOU’ book, ‘You On A Diet’.   I am also required to send in my daily foods but I said nay to that.   Trust me Dr. you really don’t want to know.

For exercise, I have been doing the one hundred pushup challenge for almost a year now.  I came across it online and shared it with a few of my friends.  Great program!  I more than tripled my pushup reps in a matter of a few months.

Now when it comes to all those weight loss programs out there,  Weight Watchers for me, carries the most weight. Pardon another pun.  The thing is, with The Enforcer, I don’t have the luxury of eating whatever I want.  I am destined to life without the fun foods.  No more Burger King and Pizza hut and what kind of life would that be?  Weight Watchers on the other hand promotes a diet based on enjoying your foods BUT eating it in moderation and tracking your calories intake.    Now that’s more realistic and that I could live with.

My take? More cake

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‘Playing’ Jesus

A mega church in Winnipeg is attempting to make church more appealing by re-enacting biblical events in a contemporary form.  Their Easter messages are delivered using props and costumes of popular figures and movies.   This past Easter, their Message was entitled ‘Batman: The Dark Night’.  The ‘actors’ including the pastor, were all in full and authentic costumes.

Now I am not sure how I feel about this.  Reading the comments, not too many are ready for something such as this.  Blasphemy is used a lot to describe it.  I can see how something like this could attract people to the church but what happens next Sunday when the biblical stories are delivered raw, uncut and without the trimmings?

I am old school.  To a point.  Tell me the story of Jesus the way it is.  Don’t package it in colorful wrappings.  I don’t want to imagine him as the Dark Knight, no matter the good intentions.  But that’s just me.  Like I said, I am old school.  I do however, enjoy contemporary worship over the traditional hum-drum hymns singing.

On the flipside, Jesus did use parables to drive home his points.  The Bible is filled with stories that he used to make us understand.  So maybe what the church is doing is not all that bad.  If even one soul is gained through this, then who am I or you to talk?

Read all about it here

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In Response To, “Race” Not An Issue in the Trayvon Martin Murder?

I recently  blogged about the case of a young and unarmed black kid, Trayvon Martin shot by a white man, George Zimmerman.  Read here.   It was basically an opinion stating that from what I could deduce, I saw no sign that race was a factor in the killing.   A fellow blogger responded to the contrary in a reply to my post.  Read that here.

As one who loves to argue/discuss a good point and for those of you who share this blogger’s opinion, here’s my response.

I am painfully aware that injustice against blacks (Other races too but let’s stick to the topic) do exist.  Like I said, I did as much research as I could on the Trayvon’s case.  Before doing any researching, my initial conclusion  was that it was 100% racially motivated.  Nothing I read confirmed this.  I did read the ‘black coon’ comment and my first reaction was to go ‘aha! so it WAS a race thing’ then on further reading, I found that this comment was inconclusive.  ’F*ing coon’ was later thought to have been ‘f*ing cold’ then ‘f*ing punks’ by forensic audio experts.  Only a biased mind would argue that it was indeed ‘f*ing coon’.

The blogger went on to say ‘ Perhaps you haven’t noticed that this is indicative of a continuing trend of a lack of follow-up on crimes perpetrated against black people?‘  Ironic indeed since one of my first blogs was based on the injustice in the Troy Davis’ case.  Another black man.  Read that blog here.  I even did a part two on that case as it really touched me.  Part 2 here.  So you see, I am in fact not blinded to racially atrocities against blacks.  I however, choose to be objective rather than subjective.

Another irony is the blogger wrote,  ”Perhaps, you haven’t considered that had it been a black man who had shot a young white kid, that there would be no way in heck that that black man would have been walking around free, and armed, for weeks afterwards?”  On my blog on the Troy Davis case, I wrote ‘ I do not like to go there but it begs to ask, would it have been different if Troy was a white man?‘  Ample proof that I do know the ‘truth’, you would agree.

“The older I get, the more I become convinced that people don’t take too much seriously unless it happens to them, or “theirs.” It’s easy to talk about “being Christian,” and “learning to forgive,” but even Jesus believed in justice.”

From reading many of my blogs dealing with pain and tragedy and the miscarriage of justice, there should be no doubt that I do take matters such as this with all seriousness.  I have children and family that I love dearly so I know how I would feel should I be in the victims’ shoes.   As a christian, I admit that my first response is usually to put things in a spiritual perspective.  No apologies there.  It is really refreshing when I read of parents forgiving the killers of their spouse or kids.  I pray daily for strength to be able to be man enough to do that.  For the records,  Jesus did not believe in the justice dispense by us humans and that’s why he preached forgiveness every chance he got.

Finally, here is an excerpt from Trayvon’s mother herself.  As the grieving parent, she could have labeled this a hate crime but didn’t.  Her take was rather noble and level-headed.

‘Saying she believed the shooting death of her 17-year-old son was “an accident,’’ Sybrina Fulton revealed on NBC’s Today Show her opinion in the case for the first time Thursday.

“I believe it was an accident,’’ Fulton said. “I believe that it just got out of control, and he couldn’t turn the clock back.’’

. . .

Fulton added that she sympathizes with the Zimmerman family, but asked for their understanding as well.

“I understand that his family is hurting, but think about our family. We lost our teenage son,’’ she told Today Show anchor Ann Curry. “I’m sure his parents can pick up the phone and call him, but we can’t pick up the phone and call Trayvon any more.’’

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