Has a Music Video Ever Ruined a Song for You?

This plight makes me admit a few things I don’t know if I really want to out here on the internet. First off I’m a fan of girl pop music. Yes, I’ve been a Deborah Gibson fan back when she was Debbie, like me some Avril Lavigne, and yes, you can catch me singing some Miley Cyrus every now and then. Miley Cyrus’ latest “in the spotlight” escapades aside, I’m usually able to separate the crazy from the music, and for whatever reason I’ve been liking her song “Wrecking Ball” that has been hitting the airwaves, not to be confused with the Bruce Springsteen anthem, “Wrecking Ball.” The Miley song is catchy, in that girl pop kind of way, and then there was talk about the video, how Miley gets naked, and this, that, and the other thing. Not really caring that much, and with MTV not airing videos anymore, I didn’t really try to search it out.

Then the other morning I was up early, popped the Vevo (The go-to place for music videos now) on, and decided I would catch up with some music video watching while I was doing some writing. There on the menu was the Miley Cyrus “Wrecking Ball” video. Deciding I should see what all of the hubbub was about I decided to watch it, and I have to say I don’t know if I can listen to the song anymore as I think the video ruined the song for me.

Sure, Miley was in her short hair (which I don’t like), in underwear, and sometimes naked, in a video with a wrecking ball and a sledge hammer, and she’s slithering around, which is fine. Then she starts that creepy “tongue sticking out” thing that had grossed everyone out when she was on the VMA’s, and this weird sneer thing is going on as well. I know I’m an older dude now, and maybe I’m slowly losing touch with the youngins, but the entire video just creeped me out, and her prancing around in her underwear just didn’t come off sexy at all. That and the fact that it’s just a crappy music video for a song that actually had some potential to make a decent music video.

The bummer part now is that whenever the song comes on the radio all I’m going to think of is Miley, with that tongue, licking the wrecking ball. Sure, she needs to grow up and out of her Hannah Montana persona, but hopefully she’ll get over this phase quickly, or stop making videos, or else I’m going to have to turn to radio station so the image doesn’t make me want to throw up a little bit in my mouth. I’m also worried that she has the potential to now ruin Saturday Night Live for me, as she’s hosting and singing, and if there is a lot of tongue wagging I have a feeling I won’t be able to watch. Miley, please stop with the tongue!

With the song “Wrecking Ball” now ruined by a slithering Miley and her tongue (an hopefully not Saturday Night Live this weekend), I’m plighting: Has a music video ever ruined a song for you?

That’s it for this plight! I’m The Dude on the Right!! L8R!!!

Should “twerk” have been added to the Oxford Dictionary Online?

I have to admit that this is sort of a trick question. You see, there are two versions of the Oxford Dictionary. First there is the prestigious Oxford English Dictionary. This is the official dictionary where words are never removed, some words may be way out of date, and is sort of the “Official” dictionary. Then there is the Oxford Dictionary Online. From the Oxford University Press, the folks that put out both, “The dictionary content in ODO focuses on current English and includes modern meanings and uses of words,” which I take to mean as the “We can add things, and take them away, and it’s fun to get in the news when we add things like ‘twerk’ and ‘grats’ to it” version.

During the week there was much hubbub as The Oxford folks added “twerk” to the ODO version, much to the dismay of scholars, but probably much to the delight of Miley Cyrus who is now taking credit for a word being added to the dictionary even though it has supposedly been used since around the time she was born. It’s also a word that will probably, thanks to Miley, be shunned from this week forward as visions of people dancing as teddy bears and a Disney star going blue, sporting a foam finger, and wishing her tongue was as long as Gene Simmons’ will forever be associated with it thanks to her performance on the MTV Video Music Awards.

I suppose, maybe, this plight should have actually been something like “Did you know there are two versions of the Oxford dictionary?”, but what fun would that have been? Instead, now I’m wondering if you answered the question in your head thinking “twerk” was added to the “official” dictionary? In the end, though, I plight: Should “twerk” have been added to the Oxford Dictionary Online?

That’s it for this plight! I’m The Dude on the Right!! L8R!!!

Have you Tweeted a Correction to an Earlier Tweet?

I would like to think my answer to today’s plight would be in the affirmative, but I honestly can’t remember if I’ve ever tweeted out a correction. Thankfully, though, with yesterday’s plight about not being able to watch the MTV VMA’s I didn’t reference the Will Smith family reaction to Miley Cyrus, you know, the picture that went viral of a seemingly disgusted, lovely family moment, supposedly watching Miley Cyrus at the awards. The problem was, this tweet,originally attributed to @chi_chibaby in most stories, (I received a retweet in my Twitter feed to it) wasn’t actually the family reacting to Miley, it was their reaction to Lady Gaga. @chi_chibaby went on the defensive when word started spreading she was wrong instead of just saying something like “My bad,” MTV seemingly stated in a follow-up story it was a picture coinciding with Lady Gaga, I’m guessing Lady Gaga was upset because the viral picture that could have kept her at least a little relevant for the awards was mis-attributed, and then there is the part of me that wonders where the original picture came from because I’m thinking it was poached from another source and the original poster is like “Hey, what about my retweets and new followers?”

Oh well. As talk of Miley Cyrus’ performance will quickly go away especially as, I’m sure, we have our next Lohan/Kardashian/Bynes story to take its place, at least until next year’s VMA when we will be reminded of all of the “outrageous” moments as some sort of publicity campaign for MTV, I’m glad I didn’t fall into the trap of misinformation. Many did, I’m guessing 99% of those didn’t tweet out any type of correction, and I’m plighting: Have you tweeted a correction to an earlier tweet?

That’s it for this plight! I’m The Dude on the Right!! L8R!!!

Hot Tub Time Machine, No Miley Cyrus Love, Greedy People, and Fun Times in MI!

By: The Dude on the Right

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During this episode of our “Weekend Wrap-Up!” podcast, Stu Gotz talks about his recent trip to the state that looks like a mitten, while I have clean balls. Okay, there isn’t that much ball talk, but the both of us did see “Hot Tub Time Machine” and think it is one, funny movie, especially if you lived through the 1980’s. Stu’s trip to Michigan wasn’t nearly as bad as he thought it might turn out to be, I got to witness greedy people at a business expo, and with Easter and the release of the Apple iPad coming up (I’ll let someone else fight about which is more important), Stu has special plans for his celebration.

Me, I tell Stu that things are pretty calm in The Dude world, the TV catching-up is nearly complete, and I’m not really looking forward to the new “Clash of the Titans” this weekend because I love the cheesiness of the original, and then we find out what Stu really thinks about Miley Cyrus because, well, she has a new movie, “The Last Song,” opening this weekend, too. Happy Easter to all of you Christians out there, Happy Passover to our Jewish listeners, and for the rest of you, heck, Happy April!

Thanks for listening!

That’s it for this one!  I’m The Dude on the Right!!  L8R!!!