Will Smith. That is name you immediately recognize. Most associate it with blockbuster summer movies. Other associate it with rap lyrics with a positive message behind them. People also know him as a devoted husband and father. In the last two decades, Will Smith is a name people have come to know. He is not one that someone will not know about. If it isn't for his presence in movies, his music would get him noticed all too easily. Music is where he began. His first CD was released in the late eighties, and soon after the anthem about how "parents just don't understand" was released, he began his journey into acting with the release of his popular hit television show, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.
It wasn't until his appearance in the blockbuster summer hit, Independence Day, that he became the man of the summer blockbuster. Each and every summer since that movie was released, Will Smith has appeared in at least one of the big summer movies. This past summer it was I. Robot. However, this year has been a busy year for Mr. Smith. Not only was I, Robot released. He also played the voice of a main character in the animated movie, Shark Tale, and he also released another movie, a comedy this time, Hitch, in the last month. With a soundtrack out for that containing one of his songs, you would think a new CD release during all of this craziness would be out of the question.
This is where you would be wrong. This week has seen the release of another CD by Will Smith. This one entitled, Lost and Found. This CD is full of fifteen tracks, with one hidden bonus track.I have been a fan of his music since he began, so picking up this CD wasn't hard to do. I was glad that I did. This CD has what you can come to expect from this man and his music. He has always made a clear stance when it came to having clean cut music. He doesn't feel the need to fill his music with cussing in the lyrics and negative messages. This is what you see so much of in music of today, especially when it comes to those in rap and hip hop genres.
The first single off the CD, "Switch", also appears on the Hitch soundtrack, and their is a video playing currently on MTV now. The song is fun with a good dance beat. As is most of the other songs. What is good about Will is that he can have fun with his lyrics. Another favorite song of mine on the CD is the fourth track, "Mr. Nice Guy," in which Will says just because he is nice doesn't mean he is soft.
However, my favorite song on the entire CD has to be, "Tell me why". The song is a duet with Mary J. Blige, another strong and popular voice in the R&B genre. This song is rumored to be later released as a single, and I really hope that it is. Intense and powerful is how I describe this song. In past CD's, he has had songs for his son, and he does so again in this album. The song discusses the issues of the day, and asks how do you explain it to the children when they ask about what has happened. The song brought tears to my eyes the first few times that I heard it. It is truly powerful, and this song is one of the few times I've ever heard Will use a curse word within in his lyrics. This alone shocked me. However, the way it was used and the song itself didn't even make me bat an eyelash. The emotions were clear to me upon first hearing it. I really do hope this song is released as a single. A good song with a strong positive message is always needed. Music influences people. We all know this.
I recommend this CD. There really one song on this CD I did not like. It is high energy and fun to listen to with positive messages throughout. No matter what this man does, he does it will. This CD is no exception.
06. CD Review: Will Smith Lost & Found
04. Tell me why?
Terri Schiavo's Journal
I woke up this morning, and as in most days my first stop of the day is to my personal journal's friends list in order to read about what my friends are doing. This day I found some talk about a journal that was made. After a bit of searching the above is what I found. As you can tell by the comments, I wasn't the only person that found it. There is also a similar journal found on another of the large online journal sites. This journal is sickening. Commenting it though is a complete and total waste of time. The fact of the matter is the journal was made by someone looking for attention. This is the manner in which they went to achieve it. They went for attention by making fun of a woman and situation that has rocked this nation to its foundation.
We all have heard about the battle currently going on. It has caught the eye of the nation and the world. I've heard opinions from those around the world. It is one of those tough controversial issues that divide the nation and people. Terri is slowly suffering at this very moment. She is starving to death because her feeding tube was removed about a week ago at the request of her husband. This was done in accordance to her own wishes. However, she has been in this state for the last fifteen years. Why is this happening now? That is one question I find myself asking.
Another question I find myself asking is why is everyone in the world getting involved? We have the government getting involved. We have others around the world offering their own two cents. This matter is truly a family matter. Yes, the resulting court battle has drawn attention, but in most cases this does not happen.
I happen to agree with the decision to pull her off. I know others have a differing opinion than mine, and I respect those opinions. My opinion is based on my own personal experience. My mother was ill for many years, and she passed on in 1995. At the time she passed on, she was on machines that kept her alive. Those machines breathed for her. She could live that way for the rest of her life. As long as she remained on those machine's she could live indefinitely. My mother would not have wanted to live in that manner, and she had made this clear to her husband, my father. He respected her wishes, and she was taken off. She died quickly. Not like Terri. That does bother me. The fact that she is slowly dying is sad to see. If there was some way to make this easier for her I would love to see that. There isn't though.
I've seen some call her husband a murderer because of what he has done. All we have is his word so to speak. That's all my father had as well. His word. Was he a murderer? No. Is Terri's husband? No. This case is hard for all parties involved. It is more than just a case. It's a matter of family and the life of one woman. One woman that deserves to rest in peace.
03. Review: Star Wars Trilogy DVD
May 19th. That day might not mean anything to the normal person, but for those that began a journey nearly thirty years ago to a galaxy far far away, that day means the end of an era and a way of life. That is the day that the final installment of the Star Wars Saga will be released, Episode III Return of the Sith. In this final movie, we will see the final transformation of the young boy we met on Tatooine in Episode I to the villian we all grew to hate in the Star Wars trilogy, Darth Vader.
I love the Star Wars movies. I don't think anyone could really know how much I love them. In 1977, at the tender age of one, it is the first time I went to a movie and remember it. Mom and dad went to a drive-in to go see it, and I remember watching it from the backseat. I then saw the next two in the trilogy at my mother's side at the theater we would always go to near my house. It was the only place near my house at the time.
Star Wars became a part of my life. I remember standing in these long lines for hours just to get in to theater to see Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. I remember the story. The triumph of good or evil in one battle only to be followed by another until the final battle takes place, and then it is all over. Following the final film, I heard of the books that followed telling the continued stories of the main characters. I remember buying them and reading them. I remember reading about Luke and Leia and Han. Leia and Han got married and had a couple of kids, and that used to make me laugh. I had almost the entire collection of books untul the eathquake in 1994 hit Northridge, and my building was codemned. I lost so much during that time.
Then I heard there was new movies coming out. I became so excited and enchanted once again by the story. This time not being told after the fact but before. I remember anxiously awaiting both the release dates for Episode I and II, and now my excitement is renewed with the release of Episode III coming soon.
I received the Star Wars Trilogy DVD set this past Christmas, and when I began to watch I was given a small sign that I was indeed a part of this huge thing during the documentary. The very theater I had gone to with my mother once shown for a five second period during the behind the scenes, and it brought me back a bit. These DVD's do bring you back to an earlier time in your lives. A simpler time perhaps.
within the DVD, you have the three original movies remastered and updated for the now. The sound is excellent, and the movies are just as beautiful as they were all those years ago on the big screen.
The fourth disc includes four hours of bonus features which are longer than the movies themselves. You have the trailers and tv spots that were released for each movie, three featurettes explaining the lightsaber, the characters and the impact the movies have had on the film industry. The longest portion of the fourth DVD is the documentary, The Empire of Dreams. This documentary goes through the entire making of the movie from the first moment it was thought of, through filming and afterwards to the ideas for the new films that are now being made.
The documentary showed the struggles that the creator of the films had during their filming. The problems with production and money that almost hendered the making of the saga that we now know. It gave you insight to what was possible to happen if things had gone differently. It showed audition tapes for those that were considered for the roles, and those that were showed are also big names in the business now. Little facts like the main character's original last name was not Skywalker but Starkiller and that Luke wasn't originally the twin they wanted to be the leader but Leia was originally.
For those interested in the new movies, there is a preview of the making of Episode III with a behind the scene look at Darth Vader specifically. This was probably the only bad part of the DVD. Not for its content because that was excellent. It seemed the audio was off from the video track, so it played funny. The rest of the DVD is fine though. It was only this one portion that did not mesh together well.
These DVD's are a wonderful addition to anyone's library. There are not many in the world that are not at least somewhat aware of these movies. Any person would do well by adding these DVD's to their collection.
02 Distractions always in my eyes
A few random thoughts before I turn in for the night. Those that will end up reading this blog on a regular basis will learn I'm a night owl. I stay up to all hours of the night, and sometimes into the very early morning hours. I'm what you might call your typical insomniac. What is exactly typical of an insomniac? what makes one an insomniac? Is it the basic lack of being able to sleep night after night. When I was going to college I used to sleep on a somewhat normal schedule. I had to because there was classes to attend to.
Now at almost thirty, I really have no set schedule. I'm a homebody by necessity and not by choice, so there is no real reason for me to get up at any certain time of the morning. I go to sleep when I want and I get up when I want. This has led me to write more during the nighttime hours, and sometimes into the late night.
Lately though, my writing has been at a bit of a standstill. I stare at my screen and no words come out. Yes, I know what you're thinking. I'm writing now. I'm writing in this very blog, but this isn't really the same when it comes right down to it is it? Not really. I want to write fiction. That is my ultimate goal. I enjoy writing non-fiction as well, and I have published much of my non-fiction over the years.
I write about the world around me, how the world effects me everyday in my personal journal. This one viewed by my friends, but I don't typically the world in general see these entries. They are locked to be viewed only by those I know. I watch the news everyday, and it saddens me. It saddens me to see the world in such disarray. People express their opinions, and yes everyone is entitled to their opinions, but sometimes people don't have the correct tact necessary to expression their opinions. They don't care how their opinion comes across, and because it is their opinion they are allowed to say it however they want. If only this was the case. Even when expressing your views some tact is needed because people are affected differently by things people say. Something could strike a nerve and the words can hurt, but you don't want to deny someone the right to express their opinion, so you bite your lip, scream a tiny internal scream and you move on.
This happened tonight to me in fact. I found myself sitting here at my screen biting my lip because someone expressed an opinion on one of the big news stories currently going on. One that have my own views about, and I hope to share those views here in this blog when I'm more clear headed. I just read what they were saying, and I wanted to scream, but it wasn't my place. I stayed quiet. because no matter what I had to say it was their opinion, and they would defend it til the very end. No matter what I or anyone said. I hate being quiet. Maybe that is why I write. I couldn't express my opinion there, but I could use those thoughts and feelings elsewhere to write something. Like I'm doing now.
More soon.
01. The beginning
Everyday the world around us is changing. As the world spins on its axis, so does things change. I sit here daily at my computer screen as events happen in the world around me, and some days, no I think I honestly I can say most days, I just shake my head in wonder and amazement. I have no what is happening in the world. People die daily. Their is hate and fighting all around us. Some over the pettiest of things. Not saying that the things being fought about don't matter to the person's fighting, but that in the grand scheme of things, in the importance of the world, some of the things fought about are ridiculous.
I know I am just one person, one woman in this world, and what I have to say or think on anything has no great real importance to anyone. What one person thinks and feels is only important truly to the person and those that they know and care for. You sitting here reading my words have no idea who I am. I just one woman as I said. We might not ever meet, and you might just visit this blog once in your online existence. Then again, this might be the first of many visits to this blog.
Yes, this blog is new. I've had many, and I currently have a personal blog where I do write in daily. That blog is private, and shared with those that I know quite well or who I am hoping to know in the future. This blog will be public, and it shall be where I write about any number of things. It could be a review on something I've read, watched or listened to, or my thoughts on any of the many news issues of the day. My thoughts might also be tailored to writers from time to time. Since I am a writer, I like to share about my experiences in order to help other writers. I am currently working on a novel, in which the going is slow, and at sometimes a complete halt. I am hoping to change that.
I'm leaving this blog's content wide open, but when it comes down to it I have a lot of thoughts that find their way through my head on a daily basis. Not saying, this will be updated daily, but it might be. It might be updated daily, weekly or monthly. It just all depends if I have something I wish to share with those that might stumble across this blog somehow.
A bit on who I am just in case you were wondering. I am a twenty-nine year old woman living in Arizona. I am a freelance writer, and I spend most of time online. I write both non-fiction and fiction, and I'm also an avid reader. Most of my fiction seems to fall in the romance genre, but I have ventured into horror and other genres as well. I am a movie watcher as well, and I am slowly building up my own DVD collection. I've tried keeping similar online blogs such as this before, but I'm hoping to keep this up.
I do have some thoughts bouncing around my head currently, but I want this entry to serve as some type of introduction before I jump right in.