A Change of Face
So you may think that the pictures above show two completely different people. Unfortunately these are pictures of infamous rapper Lil Kim. The rapper appeared on the scene in the 90’s with her album Hard Core which to most is considered a classic rap album. Even though she may have faded into obscurity in the recent years her name has popped up with details of her feud with fellow rapper Nicki Minaj. You may have heard the song “Stupid Hoe”. However, Kim’s newest chance in the spotlight has nothing to do with music.
This isn’t the first time that Lil’ Kim has dabbled with plastic surgery. Since the 2000’s she has been making minor but noticeable changes to her face. A slimmer nose there, a butt implant there. Now, in 2013 Lil Kim has hit the trifecta of plastic surgery:
Not only does she have lighter skin but a larger chin and even cheek fillers. Why do people get such extensive plastic surgery? Even for Lil Kim who looked halfway decent before all of her procedures. I can understand maybe a bit of Botox once in a while but to so drastically change your body is an extreme. For one, it doesn’t look good and it’s incredibly noticeable and not in a good way.
Maybe this is a way for the rapper to reinvent herself . She has a new album coming out soon and this new scandal may be a way to drum up attention
Read MoreAnother Day, Another Court Hearing
This past week, singer Chris Brown has been dealing with the legal troubles surrounding his beating of Rihanna case. Brown supposedly completed his court–ordered 180 days of community service but recent reports suggest that not only did the singer fail to commit his service but also lied and said that her did. His lawyer stands by his position that Brown is being “tortured” by the DA’s office and being made an example of. I don’t know, I think that if you severely beat a person, then the slap on the wrist punishment you get should at least be completed. Another surprising aspect of these recent court dates is the presence of Rihanna. You may remember that Rihanna was Brown’s victim a few years back when he physically assaulted her inside of his car. It seems that Rihanna has put the traumatic experience behind her.
One would argue that because Rihanna has obviously forgiven Chris Brown for assaulting her, then the court system should as well. Statistically, a woman will return to her abuser 7 times before she leaves him for good. With those odds, Rihanna still has a long way to go. Should the judge let up on Brown because he has “changed his ways” or is it entirely too likely that he will commit the same crime sooner rather than later. It’s not like Brown has stayed away from violence following his assault charge. Just last week he was involved in an altercation with singer Frank Ocean and there have been documented incidents of his violent outbursts.
What do you all think? If a woman supports her abuser, should we assume that she just knows something that we don’t? Or is it impossible for the abuser to ever change from his previous actions? Comment what you think below!
Read MoreHomophobia at Halftime
If you’re not one to keep up on sports (like me), you probably don’t know this man pictured above. I didn’t know who he was either until some comments he made earlier this week started making headlines. This man is Chris Culliver and he is a player for the San Francisco 49ers. Instead of gearing up for the Superbowl on Sunday, Mr. Culliver has brought it upon himself to share his thoughts on homosexuality with the world. Here’s what he had to say:
“I don’t do the gay guys man. I don’t do that. No, we don’t got no gay people on the team, they gotta get up out of here if they do. Can’t be with that sweet stuff. Nah…can’t be…in the locker room man. Nah.
In addition to a clear lack of respect for grammar, it seems Mr. Culliver has no problem expressing his homophobia in public. If you look at the facts, there has never been an openly gay NFL player in the history of the league. Now, the NFL was founded in 1920, so does that mean that in more than 90 years there have been no gay football players on any of the NFL teams? Of course not. I definitely think that attitudes lie Chris Culliver’s contribute to the lack of openly gay players. If I was a gay football player I probably wouldn’t come out to my team for fear of persecution or violence.
It’s sad that there may be players who are in the NFL or aspiring to play football as a career who can’t fully embrace who they are for fear of people like Culliver. Homophobia in sports is such a big issue and it’s one that tends to be overlooked. As of now Chris Culliver has offered a half-assed apology in which he claims that the comments he made were, “a reflection of thoughts in my head, but they are not how I feel” As if that makes any sense, it’s also a bold-faced lie. His apology is just to save face and doesn’t even touch on the more severe issue at hand. That there is a culture of homophobia within sports and it is not only accepted but encouraged.
“
Politics and the Public Eye
This past Monday was an event that millions of people around the country talked about endlessly: Michelle Obama’s new bangs. All jokes aside, the inauguration on Monday drew a crowd of around a million people while others watched from the warmth of their beds instead of chilly D.C. The event has the world’s best singers including Beyonce, and Kelly Clarkson as well as readings by some of the world’s most renowned orators. The ceremony was not only beautiful but also uplifting and motivating. After the ceremony concluded there was a brunch which the First Family attended before they attended the big parade to say hello to the people lined up to meet them.
If you weren’t watching CNN, MSNBC, or some other news outlet you would think that no one cared about the start of Obama’s second term or what he plans to do for the next few years. The focus of entertainment news was either Beyonce’s lip syncing or Michelle’s new bangs. It’s sad to say that if the inauguration did not have entertainment that far less people would attend. Not that it isn’t an important event in our nation’s history but no one cares unless it directly interests them. Shouldn’t we as a society be more at the forefront of pressing political issues? Why do people refuse to bring political news into everyday conversation. To me, the inauguration would have been a perfect opportunity to introduce rhetoric on the topics concerning our country but that just wasn’t the case on Monday.
Hopefully in the future there will be a time when people can focus more on the implications of our first black President entering his second term than whether or not Beyonce lip-synced at the ceremony. What do you all think? Should there be times when the focus should be completely on politics? Or is there a happy medium to be found? Comment what you think below!
Read MoreA Night with a Legend
So as many of you probably know I usually write these posts on the *illustrious* lives of untouchable celebrities. But my post this week focuses on something that happened right here in our community. This past Monday the Grammy award winning singer John Legend came to PSU as part of the Distinguished Speaker Series. Me and a group of my friends braved the cold in order to get the chance to be up front and center for his performance. Unfortunately, as the line outside Eisenhower auditorium got longer and the crowd more rowdy a stampede ensued as soon as the doors opened resulting in complete chaos.
It wasn’t all about piano playing and singing for John Legend’s purpose at Penn State. The topic of his speech was the importance of education. He urged the audience young people at various crossroads in life to remember the opportunities they have been afforded in life and how lucky we all are to be at this university. He juxtaposed this advice with descriptions of children with next to no opportunities in the area of education and explained that not everything is equal when it comes to the futures of our youth. This tied into the charities that are very close to Legend’s heart: The Show Me Campaign and Teach for America. With Teach for America, Legend is a board member while he is the founder of the Show Me Campaign.
Finally, the evening closed with John Legend performing five of his most popular songs with help of the many young girls in the audience, myself included. When the night was over the one thing I took away from the event wa show inspiring it was to see John Legend; a man with so much influence and talent use his rhetorical platform to bring awareness about education inequality in our country.
Read MoreMy Passion – Sticking with the Old
Anyone who knows me can tell you that I love celebrity gossip, really just gossip in general. I have my host of celebrity websites so I can keep up with all the news and I seriously enjoy scoping out the who’s wearing what and who’s dating who stories that pop up everyday. I knew that I would have a hard time finding something that I loved but could also write about every week for a whole semester. I mean how genius is it to blog on celeb news, something new happens almost every day. In addition to keeping the same topic I’ve decided that I will do more than just scratch the surface, the opinions that I present will be in depth and have evidence such as articles, videos, etc. This way I can do a better job of sparking a thoughtful debate amongst my audience.
Hopefully you guys will continue to read my post and remember; comment, comment, comment!!!
Read More
Recent Comments