Tuesday, July 04, 2006

I got it wrong, Jill Scott joins the cause, and Annie Lennox's degree

Ok, I was wrong. It happens. Germany lost to Italy, 2-0. Am I surprised, yes. And Italy worked for it. The defense of both teams was sharper than expected. And Germany should thank the post and crossbar, or the game would have been over sooner and with the same score. I can only hope that France losses to Portugal. I think that would be a great game, Italy vs. Portugal. I think Portugal would play their hearts out, as it would be their first finals. Well we will see.

And its nice to see a referee that can officiate a game well. A rare treat lately. FIFA needs to have more referees like the one in this match. And it was an impressive win, the first goal is really the one that did it. I think if it happened sooner in the overtime Germany might have rallied. I don’t think there would have been a second goal. But with 2 minutes before penalty kicks, and with coaches and players preparing for that, the run by Italy devastated the German players spirit in the field. Having played over 120 minutes, including stoppage time, there was no undeserved win here. It was well played by both sides and both can hold their heads high and proud.

Something else of interest is what I read about Ms. Jill Scott. Ms. Scott, along with several others spoke on the ills of the current portrayal of Black African American women in music videos today. I have mentioned before how I disagree with the direction that has been the norm for some time now. It’s nice to see entertainers (especially those that are Black African American) take a stand and make a call for change. To the ladies out there, who wish to be one of those music video girls, read Confessions of a Video Vixen. To the men, imagine your daughter or mother or sister (better yet all of them) as one of these women. Worse yet imagine that other men, many of whom have grown up watching images like this all their lives, will treat them just like the music videos displays them. I for one am disquieted by such a thought. Yet another way to view this occurrence, which may make this hit home, imagine all the rappers and men in these videos are white. Does the video feel as fun and interesting? (Funny though, it really shouldn’t make a difference, but I bet to a few people out there it does)

And I’d like to congratulate Mrs. Annie Lennox on her honorary degree. I have been a fan of her’s since the first album of the Eurythmics. Yes I have a few years on me. She has a powerful voice, and her look at the time really caught your attention. Her choice of songs and the music accompaniment were a fantastic combination. If it was true that she originally was going to be an opera singer (but as I heard it was too thin) it was opera’s loss and definitely pop/rock’s gain. Enjoy your honorary degree. And if you haven't heard Here Comes The Rain Again, go look it up. You might thank me.

This is what I think, what do you think?

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