Open Letter to the ACMs

Dear ACMs,

(and other Country Award shows)

According to Country Aircheck, the ACMs have opted out of the eight nominees for the category “Entertainer Of The Year” because they “felt that, on TV, it got to be too cumbersome. It took a long time in the monologue to address eight artists and required more time when the category was mentioned during the show.”

I understand that your show has time constraints. After all, it’s admittedly difficult to run a three hour long broadcast and not exceed times, especially when you cannot account for the emotional reactions that could be exhibited on stage. But do time constraints mean that you do not honor one of your most deserving artists?

I understand that this particular artist, Carrie Underwood, does not really feel the need for all the awards she’s been getting. She’s been having consistent sales, chart topping singles and, the least you could say, a devoted fan-base that will never accept see injustice happen to her. And this is precisely what this post is about.

As a follow-up to my heavily viewed previous post about a possible reason for the snub, which can be viewed here, I have been asked by many people to provide links and proof to my claims. And here it goes.

For those who doubted the critical-acclaim Carrie Underwood’s Play On Tour has gotten, these are a few excerpts from the many glowing reviews that her sold-out shows have received.

The Oakland Tribune:

More musical mediocrity has been spawned by TV’s “American Idol” than from any other single entity in history.
The biggest exception continues to be Carrie Underwood, the 2005 “A.I.” champ that has totaled 10 No. 1 country singles, three platinum-plus-selling albums and numerous music awards during her relatively short career.
Her one weakness has traditionally been her live show, but now that has become a strength as well.

The Orange County Register:

It usually takes a mighty big voice to fill a big place like the Hollywood Bowl, but Carrie Underwood was definitely up to the task: the third American Idol champ and her band, accompanied by the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, made a highly satisfying debut at the famous venue Saturday night.

AZ Central:

The sounds of fireworks that kicked off Carrie Underwood’s Play On Tour at Jobing.com Arena in Glendale Sunday, Oct. 3, held the promise of a night filled with interesting sets, sparkling costumes and larger-than-life vocal acrobatics. And the show delivered all

Kansas City:

With no apologies to Taylor Swift, we can now crown Carrie Underwood the reigning queen of country music.
She can also claim the title of the most successful “American Idol” contestant ever.
Saturday night, Underwood headlines a sold-out show at the Sprint Center. Yes, she is sold-out-arena caliber these days, and not just in places close to her Oklahoma hometown, like Kansas City. Earlier this month, she sold out the Hollywood Bowl, where more than 17,000 fans came to see her.

CMT:

Without a hitch — or a drop of sweat or a hair out of place — Underwood brought Music City two hours of dynamic set and wardrobe changes to her performance. Throughout the entire evening, she managed to tastefully and effectively intertwine love, lust, nostalgia and vengeance along with a passionate dose of spirituality.

This is only but a fragment of the accolades Carrie has gotten for her Play On Tour. And as this fragment clearly illustrates, the tour was a resounding success. She goes over the crowds on a blue truck… if that’s not enough for an award, what is?

Now I won’t compare these reviews with those of other nominated Country starts, but I will ask this: how could a tour of this magnitude, having played for over 1 million fans across the United States and Canada not have the artist responsible nominated for it?

After all, isn’t the award “Entertainer Of The Year” supposed to be given those who have showed excellence in the field of entertainment?

And if concerts aren’t enough for the ACMs (and other Country Award shows for that matter), Carrie has even tried her hand at some acting.

Her debut movie, Soul Surfer, comes out this April. It’s a movie about the power of faith and love. This artist decides to break into Hollywood and the first movie she decides to undertake is not one of those commercial blockbuster flicks that are sure to bring her buzz, but a subtle role in a movie about the healing power of faith… isn’t that what country music preaches? Belief in God, in yourself and in others?

Moreover, Carrie’s “Play On” album has been recently certified 2x Platinum. Out of all the current Entertainer Of The Year nominees, only Taylor Swift has surpassed Carrie’s sales. But Taylor isn’t even a cornerstone for comparison: she has outsold everyone in the music industry today, which makes Carrie’s total even more remarkable.

In addition, Carrie has shown remarkable faithfulness to the country genre, having refused to remix all of her songs to cater to other radio formats. Even her smash hit “Before He Cheats” was not remixed, which goes to show how much this artist really cares about the overall improvement of her genre, not some passing moment of multi-platform success. Of course, we, the fans, want to see another Carrie single crossover, and we feel that some of her songs are able to do just that if only the label were to help.

I’ve also come across people saying that Carrie not winning or being nominated is only natural as other female artists have had this happen to them when Carrie came to the country scene. My only reply to them is: those female country artists were not having a fragment of the success Carrie has been having since the moment she set foot in the country music industry. How many of those female artists can boast that they have had a 12 #1 streak on country radio, including an astonishing 6-week run with their debut single? How many of them can boast of having sold over 7 million copies of their debut album and how many of them can say that they are the only female country artists that have won Entertainer of the year twice?

So for all matters and purposes, Carrie was deserving of every award she got. Sure, her label might have helped her a little bit here and there but can you imagine the response had Carrie not won those awards?

Dear ACMs, you shunning out Carrie Underwood is a disgrace. Not only is she the most deserving artist of the bunch, but to give her only one nomination that she will most probably not win is really shameful…

To other Carrie Fans I say, Carrie will always be a winner in our hearts. We might have thought a win this year is a lock, but the politics of country music have proven even more barbaric than allow the most deserving to be recognized. We cannot do anything regarding that except make our voices heard. And this is me making my voice heard. Now it’s time to make yours.

Sincerely,

A disgruntled Country Music fan.

Between Brad and Bkerke…

February 9th, St. Maroun’s day, the founder of the Maronite Church.

On this day, we are observing two totally different scenes.
One in Bkerke, Lebanon and one in Brad, Syria.

In Bkerke, the Maronite Patriach, held Mass to celebrate the day. Notable politicians attended.
In Brad, a Lebanese Maronite political leader took his family and supporters to celebrate the day.

The difference in meaning between both celebrations is anything but subtle…

Do not be fooled by the apparent religious cover of the celebration in Brad… it is all political.
Brad might have been an important Maronite location in the past but the present value of this site is what matters: there is nothing currently Maronite about it except its history. If Maronites had felt it suitable to stay in Brad, I’m positive Brad would have been a Maronite beacon today. But this is not the case. What is left in Brad is a few ruins to commemorate the days when Maronites were actually there.

On the other hand, Bkerke is the seat of Maronitisim of the whole Levant region – it is the reference. It is the place where people should celebrate St. Maroun’s day. It is where all Lebanese citizens, regardless of their religious affiliations, come to share the celebration with the Patriarch.
Look at it this way, what would be the value of Rome and the Vatican if they weren’t the current location and base of the Holy See?

This political leader probably thinks he’s making a good deed by visiting Syria to celebrate this day. He probably believes that showing that not all Maronites consider the Patriarch and Bkerke their reference, to further solidify the idea that the diversity in Lebanon, even within certain sects, is a good thing, only working to the enriching of society. I believe this is the best case scenario explanation of his motive.
It would have been good if this precise leader wasn’t so adamant about fighting for Christian – and precisely Maronite – rights.
A simple common sense question I believe I am entitled to ask: do you believe, Mr. politician, that showing a divided front to the world is a good way to fight for your rights? What rights are we supposed to fight for if we can’t even agree where we want to celebrate our founder’s day? What gives us the right to even fight for our rights if we can’t even agree on a proper reference for us in our country?
The reality is: he wants to show that a sizable fragment of Maronites actually consider him their reference.

What is even more ironic is the hypocrisy this leader has shown throughout his dealings with Bkerke and yet his followers seem to forget about it.
2005: The patriarch and Bkerke side with him… the patriarch does not receive any bashing
2005 onwards: This politician shifts sides.
2005 onwards: The Patriarch and Bkerke became critical of him and he, along with his followers, began bashing the patriarch.

This leader is preaching to his followers in Brad. But what about those followers? I know some of them. Some of them are from my hometown, I even share blood with some. And I’ve heard them say on way too many occasions that “our patriarch isn’t worth Hassan Nasrallah’s shoe”. This is how low these people think of their patriarch, their true reference. What does that say of them?
And why do they think so low of the patriarch? Because their political leader is at odds with how the Patriarch views the right direction for our country to be… You see, the simple chronological sequence I illustrated earlier only goes to show that the Patriarch and Bkerke are firm in their convictions. They have not changed. It is those who have changed and cannot tolerate criticism that have been the most sensitive and therefore, the most brutal towards Bkerke.

There are many more differences between Brad and Bkerke than a few hundred kilometers… the difference between Brad and Bkerke is that of ideology.

The only thing this political leader is accomplishing is distancing himself from the Maronite Church. If only he had the common sense to see that this Church he is trying to ignore is a 1600 year old institute that has overcome many, many bigger hurdles than the one he thinks he’s setting up.
If only he had the common sense to see that, at least on St. Maroun’s day, he should at least attend Mass at Bkerke and show the world that at least on the day of their founding, Maronites are united in their cause to stay in the country that made them and in the country that they have made.

Damn You AutoCorrect!!

This is a new website I’ve stumbled upon recently that you all need to check out! It’s hilarious! I’d add it to dearblankpleaseblank and MLIA as our procrastination-suitable websites.

The website is: http://DamnYouAutoCorrect.com

And here’s a sample of what’s waiting for you at the link:

Damn You autocorrect 1
autocorrect3
autocorrect4
autocorrect5
autocorrect6
autocorrect7
autocorrect8
autocorrect2
autocorrect9
autocorrect10

Open Letter to Hassan Nasrallah

Dear Mr. Nasrallah,

I was sort of surprised today to hear you defend the Egyptian revolution so adamantly. It is a revolution well deserved of all of our support, that’s for sure, but your fiery support was puzzling to me.

You see, Mr. Nasrallah, I fail to understand why you feel that you need to have a speech in support of the Egyptian revolution in the first place, when it’s not the first revolution in the area. Didn’t Tunisia have its own revolution, which was actually successful, a few weeks ago?

Second, I fail to understand why you need to include Israel as the center of your argument for the justification of an importance of a revolution. Shouldn’t the “poor and the free” be enough as cause? Shouldn’t the need for change be enough?

I understand that it is not in Israel’s best interest for change to happen in Egypt. After all, the Egyptian status quo is fine with Israel. But I’m sure that’s not what the Egyptians cared about when they went down in their millions to the streets.

Also Mr. Nasrallah, if you are so keen about defending the rights of the “poor and free”, how come you didn’t feel the need for a speech when “hundreds were being killed and thousands injured” during the Iranian protests in 2009? Weren’t those protesters also free and poor and wanting change? Or is it only relevant when it’s actually one that serves your best interests?

Dear Mr. Nasrallah, do not, if you may, lecture people about revolutions. You haven’t cared about our own need for change in Lebanon, obviously proclaimed by the majority of the people in 2005. On the contrary, you called for an anti-protest a few days earlier to thank those same people that were making us “poor” and suppressing our freedom. So for all matters and purposes, you are a hypocrit – just as many in your political side are – and I do not – nor should anyone – appreciate hypocrisy.

After all, isn’t Israel hypocritical as well?

Sincerely,

Confused Lebanese Citizen

The Social Network – Movie Review

Who hasn’t heard of this movie? Or at least what the movie’s about?

Facebook.

A movie about Facebook could easily have been boring. After all, many of Facebook’s users are boring: useless status updates, posey-pictures, pointless comments…

But get an interesting topic, a director who has already given a cult-hit (Fight Club) and a very, very strong screenplay and the result is riveting.

The movie tells the story of Harvard student Mark Zuckerberg (Jesse Eisenberg) and how he made Facebook, the details of his invention, all the “dirt” that we don’t know about, the enemies he made along the way and his ingenuity.

It’s ironic that the person who made Facebook – the most active and important social network today – is really, not a douchebag as the movie portrayed him in some instances to be, but mostly socially awkward.

The movie’s screenplay, written by Aaron Sorkin, is snappy, smart, fast and really engaging. The first few moments of the movie: a conversation between Mark and his girlfriend is purely based on that: dialogue. It’s such an intense dialogue that those few minutes draw you in and from there forward, there’s no dull moment. The movie is mainly talk-driven. And it doesn’t get unbearable.

The movie jumps around time periods. It does not follow the order of how everything happened chronologically but it’s very easy to understand what’s happening. I mean, this is David Fincher, the guy who brought the world Fight Club we’re talking about.

Even though, as I said earlier, Zuckerberg is not portrayed in the best of fashions, he makes up for a riveting character portrayed very well by Jesse Eisenberg. This is his breakthrough role no doubt.

And for those who thought Justin Timberlake was not capable of serious acting performances, this movie will prove you somewhat wrong. He’s not brilliant but not atrocious either.

Andrew Garfield, portraying Zuckerberg’s best friend Eduardo, does an immense job at that. The contrast between his character and Einsenberg’s is so obvious that it’s difficult to think how the characters are friends in the first place.

The soundtrack is hypnotic. Not my favorite soundtrack of the year but a pretty great one no doubt by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross. Several songs in the movie are not featured in the soundtrack, the main one being the song played in the California night club scene. So if you’ve been searching for it, it’s Sound of Violence by Dennis De Laat. The soundtrack has already won the Golden Globe.

The Social Network is up for 8 Academy Awards, including best picture. It has already won the Golden Globe for best motion picture – drama. It’s one of my favorite movies of the year – and it’s a must watch for every Facebook user.