Monday, August 24, 2015

Battle of the Bands Results and a Quick Update

First up, I've got Battle of the Bands results for you. The song was Look What They've Done To My Song, Ma. The contenders were Melanie Safka and Miley Cyrus. I wasn't at all surprised by the Melanie win in this battle (spoiler: Melanie won this one). Miley Cyrus has managed to turn off a whole bunch of people with her antics. The tally turned out like this:

Melanie Safka: 21
Miley Cyrus: 6

So, you can see that it was never even close. I did get some interesting comments on this one.

My friend Robyn said this:

I vote for Melanie, even though I like Miley's version better. I don't like that girl.

Frankly, that was my biggest concern about including Miley in this (or any) battle. People tend to vote against people they just don't like. Which if you're a superstar, it's really best to keep your opinions on pretty much everything to yourself, because you're bound to tick off half your audience. AND keep it clean. Put away the foam fingers and stop the twerking. It creates buzz, but often not the good kind.

My friend Christine said this:

I love Miley. I think she's young and sewing oats...she has real talent...if she straightens out in a year or two..writes some music..she'll be around for years.

There has been plenty written about Miley (and other Disney stars) who want to set aside that Disney image and tend to go a bit too far. Yeah, Miley isn't the only one. I think of life like a pendulum. Disney insisted that she live her entire childhood under the scrutiny of their microscope and not act out in any way. Let's face it, kids act out. So, when she got out from under Disney, her pendulum did a wild swing the other way. The thing about pendulums is that (usually) they come to rest somewhere in the middle. Meaning she won't ever be a "princess," but she probably won't be a foam finger waving idiot either. So, as Christine says, time will tell the tale here. If she writes her own music. If she settles down. If she grows up, chances are she'll ride out this crazy wave and find success. 

I tell you all this to say that I like Miley's music. I don't care for Miley's antics. I agree with Christine that it's entirely possible that she will straighten herself out. (I hope so.)  So, I agree with Robyn and Christine. Sort of. I try really hard to separate the singer from the song, because there are plenty of celebs I just don't like. When I was looking for a song in this battle of the bands I landed in Miley's backyard sessions. I watched quite a few of her songs, and I thought to myself that it's really sad that she went from this girl to the one waving the foam finger and twerking around half naked on the television. And her version of this particular song really struck me. I do think someone who spent their entire childhood in Hollywierd probably feels like their brain's been picked by everyone and their brother. Their life doesn't feel like their own. Everyone else makes the decisions and expects you to play the game. So, I felt like she could really relate to this song. She chose it for a reason. She felt like her song no longer belonged to her and if Hollywierd is selling tears... well, she'll be rich.

So, my vote is for Miley, which means nothing given this tally. But, I echo Christine's sentiments about hoping she settles down.

As for me... it's been whack-a-doodle here. I did fairly well for the six weeks I was gone, but I needed the pain pills to make it through. The good news was I made it through. The bad news was that the necessity of those pills put me back in that old cycle of daily migraines, rebound migraines, blah blah blah. I knew I was going to have to go cold turkey on the pain pills again. It was a matter of deciding when I could just opt of of "life" for about four days so I could lie in bed and moan with pain. I did that last week. It was pretty much as awful as I remembered from the last time. However, given that my dependence was shorter this time, so was my withdrawal period. Just 48 hours of agony versus the anticipated 96. All and still, it really sucked my energy.

I did find a renewed incentive during that period to just finish my revisions on my rough draft, which I did!!! I'm sure it's (once again) very rough, but I'm so happy to be further along in this process.

However, this blog (and blogging, in general) has suffered. I haven't been posting or reading. When you feel junky and only have so many hours in the day, it becomes really critical how you spend them. My novel was backburnered for so long that it became primary. I'm hoping to find some balance soon and find that happy medium.So, please bear with me. I fully intend to visit you soon!

Also, I will be posting some pics from 6 week adventure soon. And, I plan to get back to the Soundtrack of My Life. So much to do. So little time!

19 comments:

  1. Glad your detox time was short. No worries if you didn't feel like doing much.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Just take care of you!! Don't worry about the blog. We will be here. So sorry you have been in pain and the migraines returned. I've been thinking about you and glad you told us where you've been.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Looking forward to some camp pictures. I hope Miley does get past her current need for attention of any kind.
    http://www.insecurewriterssupportgroup.com/

    ReplyDelete
  4. I'm sorry you're still plagued with those migraines, but glad the detox session didn't last as long as you feared it might. I mostly get ocular migraines, which are maddening discombobulating visual things, but with only a little pain involved. I really feel for you.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Well, don't worry, GIRL WONDER, your real friends will always be around, waiting here for ya. We ain't givin' up on ya. I hope you begin feeling better and better. Watch 'Foghorn Leghorn'. Laughter is always the best medicine. Well... laughter and Jack Daniels.

    ~ D-FensDogG

    ReplyDelete
  6. Robin, you do what you have to do and we will still come around. I had to pull back a little till some projects get out of the way. I may just do shorter posts till I get caught up but I always look for my favorite bloggers...just maybe a day late.

    ReplyDelete
  7. You can only do as much as you can given the pain. We are still here and will read your blog but your health is most important. I can't stand Miley-she needs a spanking and a good scrub but I liked her version of that song better and only went by the voice not the idiot behind the voice. I knew she would not win. Let's hope she can right her silly ass ways.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hmm...I'm not sure that a spanking won't play right into Miley's current image...

      Delete
  8. Migraines are no fun, but your battles are! I look forward to your next one!

    ReplyDelete
  9. First, being late and or non-existent in the blogosphere - no problem. As you can see, I've running way behind too, and I have no real good excuse.

    Second, so glad that Melanie won this contest.

    Third, my thoughts on Miley: Here's the deal, IMO. Miley isn't a bad singer or actress, she's actually pretty good, but there are a lot of little girls out in the world who are as good, and in many cases even better. Miley got her chance because of her Dad's career (mediocre as it might have been). Dad might not have been a 'superstar', but he had an agent, knew the ropes, and was able to help her into her Disney career. OK. Is that completely fair and right in the world? Maybe, maybe not, but it's what goes on. So, Little Miss Miley has her shot and she's a star. The Hanna Montana franchise alone was pretty big and then she goes onto a lucrative recording contract. Not bad, right?

    Well, I know she's young and I know she's probably been over handled most of her life without really having been given a solid moral compass or real direction, but the hard facts of life are that she had some star power and to a lot of people's way of thinking, misused it. So, if it's 'Game Over' for Miss Miley and now, some other young woman who maybe has as much or more talent, get's a shot. Is that really so sad?

    The saddest thing is if she will learn from this mistake or not. (It would also be wise if other young little starletes would learn from her mistakes.) IF she is really talented (not so much, IMO) she should be able to mount a come back, if not, well; life is hard.

    I don't think that little stunt did too much for Robin Thicke's career either and he was certainly old enough to know better. You take some extreme chances and some times they don't pan out too good.

    ReplyDelete
  10. We all know that blogging takes a back seat to health, jobs, family, and of course WRITING! But we will all still be here whenever you have the time to join us!

    ReplyDelete
  11. I hope Miley does straighten out. It's a shame to see talent go down the tubes.

    Hope you get a recharge. I've been kind of dragging with my mind and body still in vacation mode. I love traveling and being on vacation.

    Arlee Bird
    A to Z Challenge Co-host
    Tossing It Out

    ReplyDelete
  12. Good luck turning to your novel, Robin, and regaining some balance. That's a tricky one that we're all always working on - I believe. Thank you for including my comment. Miley is so over-the-top, that I can't help it. Because I've become close friends with so many very talented artists in Chico - who will likely never have that kind of fame, but are amazingly humble, kind people, I don't forgive that type of behavior. It's the person behind the art that matters most to me.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Hi human, Robin,

    I've sorry to know that you still have so much discomfort. The main thing is that you go at your own pace when it comes to blogging, writing and just living life. The priority is your mental and physical well being.

    Pawsonality aside, I just don't like Miley's voice. It hurts my doggy ears with that fake twang voice.

    Take care, my lovely human friend.

    Pawsitive wishes and doggy kisses,

    Penny xx

    ReplyDelete
  14. Hurrah that you've gotten ahead some w/your draft. And boo to feeling junky. I had a migraine last night, and those are the worst.

    I don't like Miley's antics either, but she's not talentless. My daughter likes her music quite a bit.

    ReplyDelete
  15. My good intentions of visiting your lovely blogs were sidelined by... wait for it... more migraines. Or one long continuous migraine. Take your pick. I'm hoping to recover before the 1st. Please bear with me...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. gah, migraines are the worst. I hate, hate, hate them. Hoping you're feeling better sooner than soon.

      Delete
  16. Hi Robin. The last thing I heard, you were headed of to camp. Hopefully things improve quickly for you. Thank you for stopping by my blog and leaving your kind comment. I'm trying to post a battle for Sept. 1st. Best wishes to you (smile).

    ReplyDelete

You can now add YouTube videos in your comments by copy/pasting the link. AND/OR you can insert an image by surrounding the code with this: [im]code[/im]. In the case of images, make sure that your code is short and simple ending with something like .jpg. If you want to use a pic from someplace like Google Images, click on the image, then click on View Image. That is the code you want!

Dazzle Me!