I love the song but the video is just ok.
I actually never thought of this song as a rip-off of Madonna’s Express Yourself (as many critics have been endlessly harping about...), although I do see a lot more “borrowing” from Madonna’s oeuvre in the video than in the song itself.
The way I see it, there are a lot of songs out there that would sound alike when one starts manipulating tempos and removing embellishments.
Born This Way is a beautiful song, and its message is undeniably important.
While at first I wasn’t crazy about this song, I’m starting to like Judas, especially after watching this beautifully shot video:
As Lady Gaga herself said, it looks like a fresco painting coming alive.
As expected, the show was fun to watch and a treat for both eyes and ears. Amazingly, she never even took a break, singing song after song for almost 2 hours!!
Everything, from costumes to accessories, from lighting to props, was perfectly tailored to Gaga’s extravaganza style and larger-than-life persona.
Her many interactions with her fans, whom she lovingly refers to as her Little Monsters, were precious insights into this basically simple girl out to ensure they had a great time and got what they paid for.
Lady Gaga is really a spectacular talent. Her voice and musical prowess are truly godly gifts.
Here’s her rendition of Born This Way, sung a cappella, which closed the special:
This picture perfectly describes what was arguably the most worrisome hour of the Obama administration’s first term: watching live, in the White House’s Situation Room, while the strike that successfully takes out Osama bin Laden unfolds in Abbottabad, Pakistan:
President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden, along with members of the national security team, receive an update on the mission against Osama bin Laden in the Situation Room of the White House, May 1, 2011. Seated, from left, are: Brigadier General Marshall B. “Brad” Webb, Assistant Commanding General, Joint Special Operations Command; Deputy National Security Advisor Denis McDonough; Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton; and Secretary of Defense Robert Gates. Standing, from left, are: Admiral Mike Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; National Security Advisor Tom Donilon; Chief of Staff Bill Daley; Tony Binken, National Security Advisor to the Vice President; Audrey Tomason Director for Counterterrorism; John Brennan, Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism; and Director of National Intelligence James Clapper.
UPDATED (at bottom)
A name to remember, since I’m sure that in just a few years this Australian kid will be a super star:
I watched this video over and over, getting goose bumps and teary eyed, listening to such a powerful and beautiful voice.
Jack also made me long for the good old days when Whitney Houston’s voice graced our eardrums with wonderful musical creations, unparalleled and awe-inspiring.
I’ve never seen a jellyfish, of any size, but I know that they can be quite dangerous. Now, imagine stumbling upon one the size of a small house:
At first I actually failed to notice the man on the left side, mesmerized by the beauty of the animal. Then I saw it and my jaw dropped!!
Here’s the caption:
The Lions Mane Jellyfish is the largest jellyfish in the world. They have been swimming in arctic waters since before the dinosaurs (over 650 million years ago) and are among some of the oldest surviving species in the world.
The largest can come in at about 6 meters and has tentacles over 50 meters long. Pretty amazing when you think these things have been swimming around for so long.
They have hundreds of poisonous tentacles that it used to catch passing by fish. it then slowly drags in it’s prey and eats it.
This species is older than the dinosaurs and it’s still around!! Makes me wonder what else could be lurking around, still undiscovered...
On April 29, 2011, Prince William, second in line to the British throne, married his longtime sweetheart, commoner Kate Middleton, in London’s Westminster Abbey in what can only be described as a fairy-tale wedding.
Here are some shots from the ceremony, which I watched later that night since I’m a sucker for all things related to royalty...
Here’s the beautiful bride in her gorgeous dress arriving for the ceremony:
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Here she just reached the altar accompanied by her father and, reportedly, William is telling her she looks beautiful:
The vows and the Prince giving his wife her wedding band (he won’t be wearing one):
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Now officially married, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge walk down and out of the Abbey:
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On the way to Buckingham Palace, surrounded by well wishers:
Saluting the crowd in front of the Palace:
And the long awaited kiss (apparently William and Kate had never been caught kissing in public!!):
It was a beautiful ceremony that went down without a hitch, which is itself incredible given the amount of coordination involved.
I wish them a happy marriage.
Following up on the news that President Obama was able to bring Osama bin Laden to justice I realized that while he was dealing with tightening the noose around one of the worst terrorists the world has ever known, Obama had to deal with that petulant idiot birther of Donald Trump and his absurd and childish demands to see his birth certificate, to prove once and for all that he is indeed an American citizen and therefore legally the US President.
Reading this on the Onion’s website after Obama finally decided to put an end to the madness by releasing his long-form birth certificate made me burst out in laughter:
Afterbirthers Demand To See Obama's Placenta
WASHINGTON–In the continuing controversy surrounding the president's U.S. citizenship, a new fringe group informally known as "Afterbirthers" demanded Monday the authentication of Barack Obama's placenta from his time inside his mother's womb. "All we are asking is that the president produce a sample of his fetal membranes and vessels—preferably along with a photo of the crowning and delivery—and this will all be over," said former presidential candidate and Afterbirthers spokesman Alan Keyes, later adding that his organization would be willing to settle for a half-liter of maternal cord plasma. "To this day, the American people have not seen a cervical mucus plug, let alone one that has been signed and notarized by a state-certified Hawaiian health official. If the president was indeed born in the manner in which he claims, then where is his gestation sac?" Keyes said that if Obama did not soon produce at least a bloody bedsheet from his conception, Afterbirthers would push forward with efforts to exhume the president's deceased mother and inspect the corpse's pelvic bone and birth canal.
Mr. Obama said in his national address on Sunday night that it took months to firm up that information and last week he determined it was clear enough to authorize a secret operation in Pakistan. The forces attacked the compound in what Mr. Obama called a 'targeted operation' that left Mr. bin Laden dead. 'No Americans were harmed,' Mr. Obama said. 'They took care to avoid civilian casualties. After a firefight they killed Osama bin Laden and took custody of his body.'
Here’s a death we can all rejoice for!
