Is it me, or has the craziness of 2012 already begun? Just this week we've seen soccer riots, Snooki possibly being pregnant (maybe it was the recalled birth control pills), and more.
Plus, everything I've been told lately is turning out to be wrong. Let's take a look at some insane things happening right now.
-- The Susan G. Komen Foundation for the Cure has cut ties with Planned Parenthood, dropping their funding of an organization they've supported for years. Some are speculating that this all comes down to the abortion issue, and that the Foundation is caving to political pressure. Whatever the reason, this is obviously a huge blow for women's health.
-- The pharmaceutical company Pfizer just recalled one million packages of several birth control pills that were mislabeled. (Apparently the active pills and the placebos were placed in the wrong sequence on many packages. As Scooby Doo once said, "Ruh Roh!") Of course, I could say something about how we here at GuySpeak always encourage condom use as well as birth control pills if you're looking to be extra safe and avoid unwanted pregnancies, but instead I'll just link to this amusing story about a shop offering sex toy delivery for Valentine's Day. Stay safe, everyone!
-- A month ago, Lana Del Rey was supposed to be the next Adele. Her song, "Video Games," was all over the Web and some folks (even me) had dubbed her 2012's next big thing. And then the backlash began, both for her background ("How dare she be a rich girl trying for indie cred?!," screamed every blog) and her awkward Saturday Night Live performance. Then her album came out this week and...it's not very good. (Though it also isn't as terrible as everyone has made it out to be.) I just don't know what to believe anymore. If a rich girl with plump, collagen-ed lips can't make it in the music biz, the world must really be coming to an end. Oh well. At least I still have Sleigh Bells' new album to look forward to.
-- Even though I'm not even close to finishing Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, I'm still pretty excited to play the recently released Star Wars: The Old Republic, a vast, multiplayer game that will allow me to kill some Ewoks and possibly Jar Jar Binks. Now comes news that conservative groups are up in arms over the inclusion of same sex couples in the game. Of course, geeks know that Bioware, the game designer, has included the option to play as either gender (and carry on same sex relationships) in their popular Mass Effect series. Also, we all know that C-3PO and R2-D2 make an adorable robot couple.
-- DC Comics just announced Before Watchmen, a series of prequels to Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons' iconic graphic novel that inspired the slightly-less-than-iconic 2009 movie. And (big surprise) Moore and Gibbons aren't involved. Some of the creators DC has enlisted are quite good, but this just seems wrong. For the non-comic book fan, this is akin to a sequel to Citizen Kane or a movie version of the board game Candy Land starring Adam Sandler-- Oh dear. We're all doomed.
I'd love to hear your thoughts on all of this. Are you concerned about the birth control recall? Steaming mad over the Planned Parenthood debacle? Excited/annoyed by the Watchmen prequels? Let me know!
All the criticism that Lana Del Rey is getting is kinda ridulous, people are complaining about how fake she apparently is yet they worship Lady Gaga forgetting about the plain dressed brunette she was when she was first singing in clubs. The SNL performance I'll admit was pretty shaky but a audience of that magnitude is bound to make you a little nervous. Some people seem to just be hating her just to hate (Sheep!), I personally quite like her album, there's a good number of really solid tracks.
I like the album. It's not amazing, but there are good songs. The backlash seems a bit much. More of people hating just to hate. She's not a great live performer, but then neither is Katy Perry.
Uh, it was Astro from the Jetsons who said "Ruh Roh"
True. Also Scooby Doo. They were basically the same dog. Oh, Hanna Barbara.
I can see why SGK dropped their ties, but I just glanced at their budget...the focus isn't on abortions... They are basically cutting off the hand that feeds them...very sad.
Didn't know anyone was complaining about TOR. Haven't they seen the Sims Social on FB. You can have same-sex partners there too. LOL
Star Wars is such a fantastic game, Nick O__O I was not a big fan of Star Wars till I played it. Its wonderfully done, if still a bit buggy.
I really think that people are over-playing politics in the Susan G. Komen and Planned Parenthood thing. Planned Parenthood clinics don't do anything besides basic breast exams--the same kind women can do themselves. They usually refer women to other centers if they need mammograms or more in-depth exams. SGK is just cutting the middle-man and donating directly to the organizations that can do more, so those organizations can offer cheap (or even free) services themselves. It's a good business move, plain and simple. Yes, they may be concerned that their funds are being used for things other than breast exams, but as an organization not devoted to the issue of abortion, contraception, or STD testing, they have every right to not want their money used for those when it could be or used for their main focus: breast cancer.