Will Obama change hip-hop?

In a CNN.com article posted today, rapper Common explains why he believes President-Elect Barack Obama will change the attitude and reputation of hip-hop music. He cites this change will be due to Obama’s optimistic prospects and other hip-hop artist’s tendencies to write songs about things going on the world. What do you think?

Amy Poehler is unstoppable

Alright so Amy Poehler popped out a baby a little over a month ago and shes already back to SNL doing a guest appearance as Hillary Clinton.  Poehler is parodying Clinton’s appointment as Obama’s Secretary of State and mentions among other things her appreciation that she is not the Governor of Alaska and her dissapointment that she will no longer be Senator of her “home state,” New York.  Take a look and let me know your thoughts! Click Here to view this video

Sarah Palin does SNL

Alright so the much awaited Sarah Palin visit to SNL has arrived and I have to say, as much as I wanted to hate it, it really hit the mark! This was a great move by Sarah Palin to confront the SNL sketches about her, played by Tina Fey. Tina Fey’s portrayal of Palin at the beginning of October 18’s show was once again extremely accurate along with entertaining. The sketch then goes on to show the real Palin talking to SNL creator Lorne Michaels, when Alec Baldwin shows up he mistakes Palin for Tina Fey and continually puts down Palin. Sarah Palin takes the criticism in stride and makes note that her favorite Baldwin brother is Steven.

Governor Palin then stopped by Weekend Update where she watched as Amy Poehler parodied her by rapping about McCain’s creepy smiles, a cameo by Eskimo’s and Palin’s husband in his snowsuit, the fact that from her porch she can see Russia, asking all of the “Mavericks and Plumbers in the house put your hands up,” and her love for hunting.

This was a great come back from Palin and a smart move by her this close to election day.

So this episode is too recent to be up on YouTube yet but as soon as it is I will post the videos directly to the blog. For now, here is the link to the SNL Web site with the videos posted on it.

http://www.nbc.com/Saturday_Night_Live/

Scary Ignorance

Alright so this video is just a touch of some of the ignorant views that a lot of McCain supporters have. As we are getting closer to the election and Obama climbs in the polls people are coming out of the woodwork to express uneducated opinion and disturbing fears about Barack Obama.

John McCain is part to blame for his supporters thinking that Barack Obama is a terrorist, considering his attacks on Barack Obamas “Terrorist afffiliations,” but it is comendable of him to defend Barack Obama when McCain’s supporters attack Obama at his rallies calling him a “Terrorist” and “Arab”. To me it is scary that people this ignorant will be casting votes on election day.

This is an example of how important it is for Americans to becomen educated on the background of candidates and become politically active.

Too funny to not post

Hilarious!  Who doesnt love Betty White!?

And this is brilliant…A great idea to get the attention of a different target audience

Does SNL take sides?

Alright so I know that this year I am way more politically involved than I ever have been before,  but doesn’t it seem like SNL is a lot more biased than ever before?  Obviously John McCain and Sarah Palin give the writers a lot more material to parody, but I think if the writers really wanted to be unbiased, they would have more skits parodying Barack Obama and Joe Biden. 

So far this season SNL’s ratings have skyrocketed due to Tina Fey’s portrayal as Sarah Palin. Anyone who has had any encounter with the media in the past month has seen a clip of Tina Fey as Sarah Palin.  But most have not seen or heard of the portrayal Barack Obama by Fred Armisen.

Maybe republicans are just making the writers job a lot easier.

Influencing my circle

As I sat in Political Communication, wondering if there might somehow be a possibility that perhaps we may get out of class early…a streaming video interrupted my thoughts. We were watching and analyzing political commercials in class when Dr. Brigance played a Web Ad that was so powerful I knew I needed to share this.

This ad is a part of DipDive, a political social network backed by the Black Eyed Pea’s Will.I.Am. DipDive features the two videos created by Will.I.Am and includes appearences by many celebrities. As I watched this Web Ad, when just moments ago I was anxious to be over with the class, I was captivated, and wondering why this was so. What is it that makes this video so powerful? This video contains celebrities, but other than the familiarity of their faces, that is not what stands out to me about this video.

My mind was already made up, and had been since he won the democratic nomination, I will be voting for Barack Obama. So why is it that I am so interested in this Web Ad? And then I realized what it was. My realization was not just that I supported Barack Obama, but that there is more I can do than quietly sit back and support him.

Just watching this makes me want to go out and tell other people about it. I truly believe that this ad has the power to change peoples minds. I respect the celebrities featured in the advertisement for standing up for their beliefs and opinions and making the effort to get their voice heard. The range of celebrities featured in the ad reach out to a diverse group of people. It has the power to reach more people this way, by including not just Hip-Hop artist Will.I.Am, but also actress Scarlett Johansson, Cuban-American actor Enrique Murciano and deaf actress Shoshannah Stern, among many others. They are informing their circle, why shouldn’t I? My circle is small, and includes readers of this blog.

Here are two of the DipDive videos. Take what you want from them. Go ahead and disagree with me, let me know what you think, I am open to opinions and criticism. Or, if you like it, tell me what you like about it. I basically want to know how these videos move you, change you, or neither of the above.