February 4, 2003

It is not rocket science. On Saturday February 1, 2003, the Shuttle Columbia disintegrated 15 minutes before it's scheduled landing in Florida. My condolences to the families and friends of the astronauts. 

It's return was called “a picture perfect re-entry” and a shuttle has never exploded on re-entry. So what happened. It endured re-entry into the earth’s atmosphere. Sadly, there were warning signs that were not given credence. Had they been alerted, they could have ejected. It was a precarious situation and and regrettably, the shuttle was lost.  

To go into space to do research that benefits mankind is a brave, admirable undertaking. However, space exploration has risks. Risks the astronauts knew about. It is such a perplexing concept to most, filled with uncertainty. In embarking on mission, there are certain risks you assume. Even the finest scientists will concede that. It is not rocket science, as much as it is based in science. 

The presence of the first Israeli astronaut in space, Ilan Ramon, aboard the shuttle, prompted people to question if it was an act of terrorism. Considering the things that have happened recently, it is understandable that people would assume that. However, this has not been proven and the investigation is not completed.

Certain anti-Semitic people saw the shuttle's explosion as God's vengeance against Jewish people. I was appalled when I heard those statements. Anti-Semitism is wrong. Jesus is Jewish and I believe in Him. You cannot claim to love God and Jesus Christ and not love Jewish culture. God does not hate Jewish people. He loves them. He loves you as well.

The people of Israel are grieving and understandably so, but Israel must not give up. They accomplished what they set out to do with the space mission. They successfully sent the first Israeli into space and no one can take that from them. Mission accomplished.

February 14, 2003

War In Iraq

Some entertainers have publicly spoken out against war and you have to wonder with some, not all of them, if they are truly concerned or if some, under the advisement of their publicist or manager decided to do so to enhance their image. 

To be fair, some entertainers are socially active and would speak out against something they didn’t agree with, but these are the celebrities that do this all the time, many of whom do work for charity. The ones that do not do charity work, only speak about themselves, their image or the current project they are promoting in interviews, are not socially active and when they do things like this, it makes you wonder if their motive was publicity. War is serious, it's not the time for you to try to garner publicity. If you are going to speak out against something, it should be sincere. 

Tabloid Gossip Columns

Some of these tabloids and gossip columns ruin people’s lives and careers. In some instances, they even set people up just to get a story. If you go around wrecking people’s lives, someone else will wreck yours as well. What goes around comes around. Find a new job for your own sake. It’s not worth it.

- Why are adults lustfully staring at teen acts? It's one thing listening to a teen act sing a song, but quite another staring at them in a sexual manner. I’ve heard and read where men and women made lewd, sexual comments about underage teen entertainers. That is totally inappropriate. It does not  matter how mature a teen act looks, they are still underage. 

Some minders are guilty of encouraging teen acts to use sexuality to sell records. There is a teen act sparking controversy for using their same sex relationship to sell records. It's so exploitative that even liberals are requesting this act’s video be banned. 

Some of the topics that teen acts choose to sing about is totally inappropriate as well. It's fostering and encouraging pedophilia. The adults responsible for these teen singers should not put out that type of material. Using the excuse that kids are so advance today does not justify it. 

Copyright Infringement

A few months ago, a record company was hit with a 300 million dollar lawsuit because a producer recorded music off the TV, went to the studio and looped it on his song that he produced. What he didn’t realize was that he didn’t sample a track from a unknown foreign singer, what he really did was illegally sample a track from one of the best known sopranos in the history of that country. It was like illegally sampling Whitney Houston.

MTV pulled out an interview from months before the lawsuit, where the producer told them on camera that he recorded a song off the TV one morning and used it for the song that they are currently being sued for. He failed to clear the sample and pay the publishers, which is illegal.

It is now an important case because a judge granted an injunction ordering that the album containing the song that infringed the other artist's copyright must be stickered (crediting writer) or pulled from shelves.

Ripping Off Other Artists Styles

They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, I say it is the most insincere form of coveting. Someone else having something you want and a easy, legal way to copy it. It’s part of the reason that so much of the music that is out right now sounds the same. 

How many times has a singer or actor come up with something and then other entertainers rush to do the same thing. That’s part of the reason why so many albums and films are so stale and the charts are clogged with the same music. That’s why when you turn on the radio you think, didn’t I just hear that song. Well, sometimes it is because of that and sometimes it’s not a song copying another tune, because you really did just hear the same song a few minutes ago –cough- because of payola. 

There’s one known producer that closely watches another well known producer and duplicates excerpts from his latest releases for his own songs, whether it be his style or parts of the beats or lyrics. He’s been doing this for years, but the other producer probably was not paying attention to the other guys music and didn’t notice it, well that is until recently when they got into a dispute over something else.

There's another example of why there is so much of the same music out now. There’s a well known singer that does her best to duplicate another well known singer every chance she gets. I noticed it a few years ago and wondered if the singer realized it.

Now she apparently has and expressed how upset she is about it. She had reason to be upset. She goes to producers paying them a lot of money to come up with new music for her albums, she goes to hair stylists and pays a lot to have special hair styles done, she goes to designers and stylists and pays for special clothes, only for the other singer, who is her rival, to deliberately and cheaply rip off her music and her look and pass it off as her own. There is a male singer that does the same thing as well and the other male singer that was being copied noticed and spoke out against it.

An entertainer goes out with a new hairstyle, then a few other entertainers rush to copy. I saw someone do that and thought, can’t you pay a stylist to come up with something else for you. When you take from someone’s look or sound, you are stealing from them. You are stealing from their act and from who they are. What does that have to do with music?

I heard the beginning of a song the other day and for a split second I thought a group that has been on hiatus made a comeback. It turns out it was the group that constantly uses their style.