End of the month. You know what time it is... #Lineup

The Lineup: August ‘12

What I can’t live without: Olympics.  I realistically watched anywhere from 80-100 hours of Olympic coverage.  I was into every sport possible: Judo, Water Polo, Handball, Foil, Beach Volleyball you name it, I was into it (except for Equestrian, I still don’t get that).  Watching Michael Phelps become the most decorated athlete ever, Usain Bolt doing Usain both things and of course Gabby Douglas left me with lifelong memories.  There are few things more exciting than watching someone be the best in the world at something.  Even when they aren’t the best, as in the case of Oscar Pistorius who qualified for two Olympic events despite having no legs, you can still fuel your inspiration.  And if the events don’t peak your interest, there’s always this. 

If I had one wish: We would stop participating in pointless, aimless and expensive wars.  We found and killed Osama Bin Laden over a year ago and took out most of the top officials in Al Qaeda, why are we still in Afghanistan?  The American death count has now surpassed 2,000.  (To further put this into perspective, the first 1,000 soldiers died between 2001-2010.)  I need one good reason why we need to continue this war.  It’s time to bring our men and women home.  Obama, dude, this one’s on you.

If I had another…: It would be for life to start imitating art.  The HBO show, The Newsroom allows me to escape to a world of politics that I would love to live in - a world where facts and logic supplant emotional outbursts and divisive scare tactics.  It would be so refreshing for a politician to govern beyond his or her own election cycle because as we know, no real change can ever occur in two to four years.  It wouldn’t hurt either if people didn’t pretend that both parties deserve equal blame… just saying.  I’m sure with the Presidential election in full swing, this will give Aaron Sorkin plenty of things to write about for season 2.  I will be ready to get another glimpse of how I wished our media would operate.

Quote: “I’m not in the mood for this [therapy] and I don’t want to talk to a stranger about my family problems” – Kim Kardashian.  On the surface, I totally understand but unless she doesn’t consider the millions of people that watch her reality show “strangers” then I have no clue what she’s talking about.
(Related: There is absolutely wrong with therapy. I fully expect to sit on someone's couch one day just to talk and get an objective perspective. It's called growth.)

Higher Learning: This is the month where most colleges start back up and start educating our world's future doctors, lawyers and leaders.  Big shout outs to all those starting their freshman year and all of those entering their final year and are thinking about how to use that degree.

You should have Netflix’d: Pariah.  Typically, I’m not a huge fan of “Indy” movies.  Most of them I don’t get and I feel sacrifice entertainment in the name of being “artsy”.  However, when the stars align, a good independent movie can leave you with an incredible experience.  This film, about a young Brooklyn teenager figuring out how to deal with her sexuality, makes you feel.  In this day and age, you either are the "Pariah" or know someone who is so stories like these should evoke some kind of sympathy and encourage you to take action to help.

(Related: Project X – Yes, its everything you think it will be. This is why you need to see it.)

Had to make room on my iPod for: R&B.  Finally, I get to write about something other than rap music.  I’m not as in touch with the R&B scene so I don’t get new music as frequently as I do with Hip-Hop but every once in a while, someone grasps my attention.  This time, its Elle Varner.  My biggest problem with R&B these past 10 years is I feel as if too many songs are made for the club or have to feature the “flavor of the month” rapper.  I love ballads and having the primary instrument on a song be the voice of the singer.  Elle satisfies all of those needs (the J. Cole verse notwithstanding).

Can’t wait for:  Fall Television lineup!  That’s right, all my favorite shows are coming back  It’s times like these when I’m so thankful for my DVR.