My Life Is Average vs. F-My Life: Who Will Win?

Yes, I know that this class is all about technology and well, digital communications. But this week, I feel like being different, hence the blog's title and the Milo and Otis picture, which has nothing to do with what I'm going to be talking about. I am going to compare and contrast two sites where people can post some of their life stories: My Life is Average and F-My Life.

My Life is Average (MLIA) posts short little paragraphs that chronicle a normal day with a weird quirk, an observation, or just something that someone did to make their life a little less "average".

Some of my favorites:

"Today, I saw a guy dressed like Waldo on my college campus. Trying to be funny, I walked up to him and said, "I found you!" He slipped me a dollar and said I didn't see anything. Well played Waldo. MLIA"

"Today, a new guy that I am dating asked me if I wanted some gum. I said sure expecting him to pull out Stride or something. He pulled out Bubble Tape, and ripped off an extra long piece for me. He's 21. I think I found the one. MLIA"

"Today, I found out my grandma has a myspace. And not only is her background a picture of David Beckham without a shirt, she has twice as many friends as me. MLIA."

"Today, my psychology class was talking about everyone's saddest moments they could remember. It was really awkward for the first few minutes because no one was saying anything. Then I said one of the times in my life I was saddest was when Ash Ketchum said goodbye to Butterfree and Pikachu. Everyone agreed. I love college. MLIA."

MLIA lets a registered person vote on each story with "average" or "meh". People can also leave comments for the story.

F-My Life (FML) is not about the little moments that make a person's day. It is about the moments that ruin them. Some examples:

"Today, my son's hamster died. It was overweight and got stuck in its plastic tube. My 6 year old son came downstairs to me smashing a plastic tube with a dead hamster in it on the kitchen table. He thinks I killed it. FML.

"Today, my boyfriend of five years gave me the silent treatment, refusing to talk to me or do anything more than glare at me during the entire three hour drive we took this morning. Why? Because I slept with his best friend. In his dream last night. FML. "

People can vote for each story with either "I agree, your life sucks" or "You totally deserved it". They can also leave a comment about the story.

I don't know if any of you have read either of these sites, but I've decided that I prefer My Life is Average to FML. I can relate to the stories more and the FML stories are pretty downbeat and depress me. MLIA is about finding the humor in a seemingly monotonous lifestyle. Although some of the people on FML seem to have had a really bad days, I just get a negative attitude from it. After all, some of the stories on MLIA could constitute as an FML story, but the person turned it around to be something funny and memorable.

What do you think? FML or MLIA? Do you have a MLIA or FML moment that sticks out in your mind? If so, please share :)

Seinfeld Trivia

Seinfeld Cast Reunites

Although Larry David, creator of Seinfeld, swore he would never do it, it is going to happen: a reunion. On this season of David's biographical-like show, Curb Your Enthusiasm, the four cast members (Jerry Seinfeld, Jason Alexander, Michael Richards, and Julia Louis-Dreyfuss) of the popular NBC show will reunite in the episode within the episode.

Seinfeld ran 1989 to 1998 in a staggering 9 season run. The show was popular for several reasons. The first reason was that it was episodic. Skipping around from season to season would not effect your understanding of the characters or the show. It also required no thinking to watch. Afterall, it was the "show about nothing". Seinfeld also pushed the envelope in some of its episodes, such as "The Contest", which was solely about masturbation. And lastly, the audience wasn't required to invest emotionally in the characters. The characters are selfish and morally deprived, but still fun to watch. The show never takes itself seriously. One episode centers around Jerry trying to get soup from a Soup Nazi ("No soup for you!"). The episodes usually had elements in it that everyone could relate to. For instance, one episode is about waiting in line at a Chinese restaurant, another is about getting lost in a parking garage.

And while the episodes are always very straightforward, some are just downright quirky, such as the episode where Jerry has to go on a talk show in a "puffy shirt". Another is about Jerry making a "pony remark" to his great aunt, and possibly causing her death by saying he hated anyone who owned a pony.
Although the last one mentioned might sound a little morbid, the show plays it off with humor (with success, I might add). The show takes on supposedly sensitive topics such as deformity (lady with the goiter, the Pig Man), open heart surgery (the Junior Mint) and even Susan's death.

I have great memories of staying up late (well...9 pm) and watching the newest Seinfeld episode with my mother. It was the one adult-ish show I was allowed to watch when I was little. I've seen every episode several times and I have a lot of the dialogue memorized. Seinfeld is episodic and pointless. But hilarious. It kind of taps into the monotony of life while still breathing life into the mundane activities the characters go through.

So...being a fan of the show, how do I feel about the reunion? I can't say that I'll watch it when it airs. I might catch it later on Hulu or the clip on YouTube. I have to say this: they'd better not mess it up.

So, how do you feel about reunions a decade after the fact? The Spice Girls? The Backstreet Boys (who I've heard are releasing a new album)? And now Seinfeld? Do you think it's a way for the fans of the old show to reminisce or is it just a way to cash in on some moolah?

Also, I don't know if there are any other Seinfeld fans out there. If so, tell me about your favorite part of the show and why you liked it. One of my favorite moment is the episode where Jerry puts a Tweety Pez dispenser on Elaine's leg, which makes her laugh, which in turn ruins a very regal and elegant piano recital. A few years ago, I got a Tweety Pez dispenser and did this to my mom at a concert. She lost it completely and couldn't stop laughing.

Black Like Me

I'm sure most of you are aware of Robert Downey Jr's performance in the 2008 comedy Tropic Thunder. In it, Downey plays an Australian actor who undergoes a controversial surgery to become black-skinned for a war movie. Of course in real life Downey didn't get that sort of procedure done. The makeup crew used "blackface", which is the term for a white actor who puts black makeup on and portrays a black character. Although I haven't personally seen Tropic Thunder, I've seen some clips of Downey's performance. My impression was that he did a good job with the role. He was even nominated for a 2008 Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor (losing out to Heath Ledger's terrifying Joker in The Dark Knight).

Blackface was more common before the Civil Rights movement, appearing in shows like Amos and Andy and a performance by Vernon and Ryan in 1950. However, I was scanning through the news recently and found several mentions of it within a week.

First instance: an Australian show, Hey Hey It's Saturday (which felt reminiscent of Saturday Night Live) showcased a group called the Jackson Jive. This group was of six white men. Five of them had painted black onto their faces, and the one guy portraying Michael Jackson painted his face with very white paint. An American actor/singer Harry Connick Jr, who was one of the judges, was very offended, giving the group a big fat zero for a score and expressing his disgust. The show later apologized to Connick Jr. and the American politely explained why he was offended as an American in general.




The other instance of blackface in recent media was an issue of Vogue, which featured a white model in blackface posing in typically black ethnic clothing. The magazine did not comment on the pictures.

Blackface is generally very offensive to Americans. The term is often associated with the older blackface movies, with white actors portraying black people as incompetent, or perhaps making fun of the way they spoke and/or some of their mannerisms.

My thoughts on blackface? The older clips I found (from the early to mid 1900's) on it were very offensive. It hurt me just to watch them.

As for the Jackson Jive...they are Australian. I know that is not an excuse for being tactless, but I am reading a book on Australian culture for another class, and Australians are very open, very liberal. It is a culture where basically "anything goes". Take a joke or get out. Racist jokes are a way of life there, which explains why the Australian judges at Hey Hey It's Saturday weren't as offended as Harry Connick Jr. was. I think that the skit was just trying to emphasize the fact that Michael Jackson was much whiter than the rest of his family and sort of show him as the black sheep (hmmm...poor choice of words). I personally thought it was a bit tasteless, but at least they weren't portraying the Jackson Five as blithering idiots like earlier blackface "comedy" routines did. Their dancing was actually quite good.

As for the pictures in Vogue, I don't understand what was going through Vogue's head. How did they not think that someone in the world wouldn't be offended by a white person putting on black makeup and posing in traditional African dress? Couldn't Vogue, rich as they are, have found a black model to pose for those pictures? Less makeup expenses, less controversy, all around better deal.

What are your thoughts on blackface? Do you find it completely offensive? Are people (of all ethnicities) overreacting to it? Is the whole thing being overblown? What do you think would happen if a black actor did "whiteface"?

Kate Plus Eight Minus Jon

Every time I looked at a magazine cover this summer, there they were. The tabloids followed their every movement, goaded by an entire nation that was lapping up all the coverage of the real-lives of Jon and Kate Gosselin.

If you don't know who Jon and Kate are, then I'd have to ask if you've been in a serious coma over the past year or so. Jon and Kate Gosselin, as well as their eight children, are (or at least they were) the stars of popular reality show Jon and Kate Plus Eight, a reality show following everyday occurances within the Gosselin family. Here's a quick intro of the family...

In earlier seasons, the husband and wife appeared to be very devoted to each other, despite their occasionally scuffles and arguments. However, in summer 2009, their marriage began unraveling in front of an entire nation. Jon was often seen in the tabloids with a much younger woman, under circumstances that he originally claimed was innocent. As the summer went on, Jon and Kate separated, then divorced. Jon is now with the younger woman, the daughter of the man who performed Kate's infamous tummy tuck.

The show is still running on the TLC channel, under the new name Kate Plus Eight. When asked for her reasons for continuing the show, Kate Gosselin said, "I do the show for my family because I believe it provides us opportunities we wouldn't otherwise have. Jon used to share that belief until as recently as the day the network announced the name change of the show and indicated that Jon would have a lesser role in the show."

Jon recently went on Good Morning America, and began verbally attacking Kate. "I despise her," he said, also adding that Kate "beat me down... like a lame fish" and that their relationship "can't be fixed"(CNN). He also claimed that Kate stole his wedding ring, and that is why he no longer wears it.

I didn't avidly follow every single event going on in the Gosselin household, but it was impossible to miss the major things. Their separation, their divorce, and the fact that Jon is going out with a 20-something year old now.

I was a fan of Jon and Kate Plus Eight when it was first starting out. I loved the simplicity of the show (and the kids of course) and could relate to having a large family. Jon and Kate even reminded me a little of my mom and dad. But now, it seems that it has just sold out to Hollywood. Kate dresses up her kids to match each other all the time and she herself never looks anything less than perfect. In the earlier episodes, she would wear sweatpants and sometimes go without makeup, but not anymore. Do you think that Jon and Kate Plus Eight has ceased to be a reality show in the recent seasons?

Many have questioned the Gosselin parents' decision to keep filming their children for the show while their family is going through such a rough time. Do you think that media exploitation of the family somehow helped spark the divorce of the Gosselins? Do you think it is right to have reality shows like Jon and Kate Plus Eight, especially when there are children involved? What do you think of the concept of the show Kate Plus Eight (No Jon)? And what do you think about the Gosselin parents themselves and about Jon's recent comments on Good Morning America?