Something to Hide? Bieber-Gomez Surprise!

It's Sunday!

A routine check of news media sources following this and the accompanying Twitter feed (@philhollywood) uncovered this news article from "The Blog Herald": Social Media Background Checks Are Becoming More Common by James Johnson. The thesis is with more personal information and opinions available for employers to follow up via Internet thanks to Twitter and Facebook, Johnson recommends users create "private" pages for personal info, and then "fan" pages that are "business friendly".

Since Facebook arrived on the scene, various authors and news media outlets expressed similar refrains about posting personal information and photos online. This would only make sense to someone such as Justin Bieber, who has millions upon millions of fans; The true Bieber and the image-conscious Bieber live two separate lives, and they do not involve a trendy, thirty-minute television sitcom (See Hannah Montana...no, don't!) There is information the true Bieber would share with someone such as the true Selena Gomez, and vice versa; If Bieber shared his views with Selena about his views on French colonialism, he would not do that on his "fan" page; after all, how would the French department store "Carrefour" and its employees feel if Bieber said something out of turn or controversial. Likewise, Selena would almost definitely share on Bieber's fan page that "they were standing at the snack table eating delicious asparagus and low-fat cottage cheese dip"; to tweet or post that on Justin Bieber's wall would not make sense since he was there sharing the vegetable goodness with her at a random snack table somewhere in Los Angeles.

For those who are not Justin Bieber or Selena Gomez, exercising more than a little caution is not too much to ask. If people spent as much time double-checking profile pictures and updating relationship status daily as they do, for lack of a better word, "censoring" their thoughts before posting their feelings online for the world to see, then maybe the lack of authenticity of people would not be the real sticking point to every Facebook privacy argument. The resentment of Bieber fans towards the "BiGo" couple can be traced to an individual yet collective belief shared by every one of those impressionable and jealous souls: No one is good enough for Justin Bieber except the "biggest" Bieber fan of all (each fan points to self).

So, the jealous rage of Bieber fans towards Selena Gomez perpetrates employers to make social media background checks? No! No, no, no no nononono...well, yes.

I don't mind Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez being a couple; I think they are cute. Just look at them...walking down a secluded pathway in the California sun...Selena Gomez laughing at one of the Bieber's intelligent puns, which he threw in after giving his hour-long dissertation about postcolonial and postwar Southeast Asia, while on the way from the music studio to her photo shoot...Justin flawlessly wearing a white T-shirt...ahh, romance...

Wait a minute, he tucked his jeans into his shoes! o_O

Blood, Sand and Rock & Roll: Remembering Amy Winehouse

Saturday morning, the BBC tweeted the troubled singer and pop star Amy Winehouse passed away during the night of July 23, 2011. The authorities found her dead in her north London apartment that morning. I did listen to a couple of her songs on the radio, but I never bought her music and I didn't become a fan. The way she lived did spark controversy from those inside and outside the "Hollywood" subculture, and she did enter and exit rehabilitation to exorcise her demons of alcohol and drug abuse. Unfortunately, she died before she could stop those demons from taking over, and ending her short, young life.

My main concern centers around how indignant our society can become when Amy Winehouse and others like her suffer from the effects of alcohol and drug abuse. When some friends and Tweeters said they were not surprised by her passing, I was shocked; I would hate for people to look at my life, shrug their shoulders, say "he had it coming", and then carry on as if nothing happened. If you ever saw Rudolph Valentino's silent film "Blood and Sand", then one could argue as the gallery we are as responsible for the death of the bull and/or the matador as the matador "cheating" death with the lifestyle he leads. Being the matador in the arena of pop culture, Amy Winehouse was the creation, and with her gone we find someone else to applaud or to boo.

I remembered watching a friend of mine from university, who believed very strongly in God and His Word, become a different person when he turned twenty-one...LITERALLY THAT NIGHT. Once he had a drink in his hand, his priorities and demeanour changed, and this once insightful young man became more concerned with having fun and knowing where he could score the next drink after classes on Fridays. Another friend cornered him about his "drinking problem", but he denied it just as quickly as the friend could utter the words. His story is just one of many, and I went to too many funerals where alcohol played a significant role in the disintegration of my friends. Perhaps this is why I always look in sadness at the life and career of Amy Winehouse? A brilliant musical mind and talent, Amy believed she was the toast of whichever town she played in, she bore her soul to the public - warts and all, and welcomed nay-sayers and flunkies alike to participate in the circus. At the time the help should come for her, it was too late to repair all the damage already done. What do I know? That's the "Hollywood" lifestyle, and that's no "surprise". Does it matter whose blood is in the sand; just part of the scenery, right?

Amy, I sincerely hope you found what you were looking for before you left this Earth. We were at odds about different things, but I always held out hope you would get better. My thoughts and prayers go to the family and friends of Amy Winehouse during this tragic time. If you wish to express condolences, why not access Twitter and send your condolences to @amywinehouse?

Between Rounds

This is the polished version of a blog post I started this morning, before I had to drive to Hamilton on business o_O

These last few months were not too cool for me, as some of you readers may already know. During this time, I took the fact I was not in a relationship also meant no one cared who I was and what I was doing, and that's not true. I have lots of family, friends, and I know just as many people who care; the problem is I am very hard to get a hold of, in particular since I left the social network known as Facebook. When I thought no one was making an effort to find me, I believed no one cared and got more upset.

I was talking with one of my friends this week about this, and during our conversation she told me I was the one who was difficult to get a hold of. Everything from meetings to jamborees are coordinated using Facebook, and once I left no one knew how to contact me in case they had to reach me. Sure, I have twitter and an email account, but at the most they only let people know what you are doing at that particular moment, and not for coordinating events or jamborees. My friend is really smart (I'm not telling you her name; if I did, she'd probably beat me up).

I was angry about one thing, equated it with a bunch of non-related issues, and let it become one giant balloon of sorrow. I'm tired of being the person who is always wondering why he isn't "good enough" for Movie Star Glasses Girl or why he is always alone come Valentine's Day. I should treat each issue separately, and try to be more connected given my lack of Facebooking.

As for Facebook, I would be a mistake to return to the social network to get the approval of others. I'm already through my seventh month without it, however my stance changed from "never return" to "may return for a legitimate reason". Hopefully, I may return before 2012...Why 2012? Well, you know...LOL :)

Standing Eight Count

Consider an objective approach: There are at least two possibilities used to determine why the single life continues. One, if playing games and finding cute ways to skirt the serious issues of life in order to win something or earn a badge are more fun and interesting than being direct, then go for it. No one likes being shut down, and neither does Movie Star Glasses Girl: Indecisiveness is already a "No" because she never had to answer that question, respond to that statement about the weather or her deep red hair, or even say a word. Hey, no one reminded her that cell phone she was fooling around with fell to the floor of the city bus, and lies in the middle of the walkway!

Two, being shut down is like "par for the course". Granted having steady-to-steamy relationships with multiple girls, who wear movie star glasses, at once and string them along like a choreographed ballet of Hello Kitty mascots could only mean disaster somewhere down the road. For those with good intentions and eagle-eye focus on that ONE girl wearing movie star glasses at the back of the bus, recent form in relationship-building does not mean a horrible person lives underneath that skin. To get a girlfriend or boss-lady takes enormous courage, not just to speak up and pursue her, but to allow for the possibility she will say "No". Now, the thought of marriage may be far from this point, but why else would you go after that girl who sits in the back of the city bus and wears movie star glasses? Kicks?! Those would not be good intentions, are they?

Stop being DOWN, pick up the count from the referee, and stand up when he reaches eight. There is a lot of fight left inside, and good guys never play to lose.



Dear Movie Star Glasses Girl,


Thanks for being such a good sport about these blogs; I'll see you very soon? :)


Phil