What does one do over a long break?

Dang! Sorry to break it to you Writer Girl, but I doubt anyone really cares about your little comic dilemma ;) Maybe a few people out there :P

Anyway! What's new in the world of Paparazzo? Well, absolutely nothing! Christmas break is strangely boring, but thankfully, I have a few good books to satisfy my boredom.



The first being Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl. If you want a really long book for a really long occasion (like Christmas break) I would recommend it! It takes FOREVER to really get going, but once it does, it's quite good.



Now I'm reading The Lost Hero by Rick Riordan. And just like his last series, (Percy Jackson and the Olympians), I can't seem to put it down... I love reading about Greek mythology, and his plots are quite epic.
___________________________________________________________

As you can probably tell, Writer Girl has gone through and edited this post. (Note the pictures and all the correct spelling.)

Well, that's about all that's new with me! Now I'm just getting prepared for the new year :\

-Paparazzo

Wow. You Un-Friended Me. Take That?

Hey, ladies and gents!

Okay, today I'm going to rant about something that I'm sure we all understand - Facebook. Facebook is, to put it simply, huge. It even has its' movie, for chrissakes! (And a dang good one, at that...)

People have everything they could possibly ever need for communication: picture sharing, "statuses", "wall posts", games, chat. It's pretty much just a gigantic, digital version of high school. And what is high school known for?

Drama.

So, naturally, we have Facebook drama.

But just because it's natural, doesn't mean it makes sense. I mean, I know that it's just natural for people to have conflicts, but am I the only person that doesn't like mondo-publicized conflict? I mean, I've been known to be sassy now and again, but I've NEVER had the desire to out somebody in front of millions of people. 

And that's what Facebook drama is, isn't it?

You're putting your problem out there for EVERYONE to see, and EVERYONE knows exactly what you're doing. All the threats, all the anger and violence and whatnot...it's there for everybody to point and laugh at and say, "HAHAA! You guys are such freakin' LOSERS..!"

I mean, like today - these two girls were going back and forth over a wall post, and they were seriously getting violent! They were calling each other "bitches" and "whores" and talking about all the people that the other one had slept with, and it was just like, "Wow...you guys are seriously doing this where everyone can see?"

It's pretty bad when I can tell you every guy these girls have slept with...and I've met both of them in person, like, twice.

One word: Ewwy.

Okay, yeah, conflict is always going to happen. But if you know a conflict is starting, why not just walk away from Facebook? If you're really angry, why don't you guys just "take it out back" or something? Is this really giving you the emotional gratification you want?

Or maybe the whole "Facebook fights" thing is starting up because, quite frankly, they can't just "take it out back". Maybe the Facebook fights let them say things that they normally wouldn't in person. Which isn't necessarily a good thing, it's just a sort of observation.

I wonder what would happen if you put these girls in a room together, a clear room, and let them see the hundreds of people that are watching them fight. If they knew that hundreds of people were watching and pointing and laughing...would they still be spitting out names of guys? Would they still be yelling "bitch!" and "whore!" and all that if they knew just how many hundreds of ears were going to hear it?

I doubt it. Because then they'd see the hurt in the other person's eyes. Then they'd see the other person crying over something they said. Over the computer, you can't see someone's face. You can't see the damage you've done.

So does the silent absence of faces allow us to speak louder?

And do we really want to hear it?

Until the Next Rant!
-Writer Girl <3

(*P.S. - What do you guys think? Am I right? Am I wrong?)

That's So Raven....Literally? A Writer Girl Look At the Upcoming 'Raven' TV Series

Hola, comrades!

I was just prowling around YouTube, looking for something interesting to pass the time (Hey. I bore easily, okay? Don' judge.) when I stumbled upon a fairly interesting piece of news.

Well, actually, I should give you a bit of backstory. Rewind to my days as a wee little whippersnapper, where my older brother was obsessed with comic books, and affectionately passed his love of the DC Universe on to his little sister. (Yep. That's right. Give me Batman over Spiderman anyday.)

Fast forward. The little morsel of news I stumbled upon? Apparently, in place of the always amazing 'SMALLVILLE' (In case you've never heard of it, it's basically a look at the Man of Steel in his puberty years), which is ending its ten-year run of epicness fairly soon, the CW is looking for a replacement super-show.

Now, a while back, they were talking about doing a series based around my favorite comic book character of all time, Dick Grayson. Started out a dinky kid, then he was Robin, then he became Nightwing, then, eventually, he ended up as Batman. Which sounded pretty great...only it never happened.

Cue violins of disappointment.

But now, as it turns out, they're looking at another character with a special place in my heart - Raven.   

Raven is a bit less of a media figure than Dick Grayson and Clark Kent. While Dick Grayson has showed up alongside the Bat in multiple movies and TV shows, and Clark Kent is freakin' Superman, Raven's only onscreen appearance was in the Cartoon Network original animated series 'TEEN TITANS'. Which was actually pretty good.

Raven's TEEN TITANS Appearance (Kinda anime-ish)

For those of you that aren't familiar with Raven's character, she's basically the daughter of a human woman named Arella and an evil world-destroying demon named Trigon. Trigon conceived Raven so that she could work as his 'Key', or his portal into the worlds so he could destroy everything.

Raven's half-demon-ness gives her some pretty awesome powers, though, aside from being an aide in the destruction of the world she loves. Raven has telekinetic abilities, spellcasting abilities, and she acts as an empath, able to tap into the emotions of other people. Her abilities are triggered by her emotions, making her an especially angsty character, due to her constant struggle to control herself.

Raven's more comic-book appearance

Now, don't get me wrong - I love Raven. I was always a big Dick Grayson/Raven shipper. Why? Because they're both my favoritest characters ever, and them together would be a great big, epic ball of epic epicness. (But, alas, it is not meant to be, according to DC...Grr....)

BUT... a Raven TV show would have to be done correctly. How are they planning to do this? I think Raven is one of the most creative and multi-dimensional characters in the DC Universe, but what exactly are they going to do with a series? Are they going to have her in her third incarnation as teenager Rachel Roth? Are they going to have her as a Teen Titan? Or are they going to not pay attention to the comics and kind of do their own little thing?

Personally, I think Raven's Teen Titan years were fascinating. Not only do you have the romantic aspect of Raven and Gar Logan (Beast Boy), but you have really cool character arcs for her, like 'THE JUDAS CONTRACT' and 'THE TERROR OF TRIGON'. But, on the other hand, then it wouldn't really be Raven-centric, so I doubt they'll do that.

Then again, I'd really like to see characters like Gar Logan, Koriand'r (Starfire), and Dick Grayson show up in a Raven show. I can remember a really cool comic where Koriand'r and Dick were getting married, and Raven crashed the wedding because she was possessed.

So, I guess to sum it all up, I'm both excited and kinda scared for this! If done right, it would be a very dark, broody, and angsty, while still being full of action and character-driven awesomeness. But, if done wrong?

I'm going to start writing some strongly worded hate mail.

Until next time,
- Writer Girl <3
(Song on my iPod Right Now: Famous Last Words by My Chemical Romance)

*P.S. - If you guys are reading this, comment below and tell me who'd you want to appear in the series, and maybe who you'd like to see play them! I've got a lot of ideas, I'd like to see what the rest of the Universe thinks!

Hmmm...

     Paparazzo here. Lady Gaga's THE FAME MONSTER. Only a handful of words can describe it. And the best one would be EPIC. But, I'm one of the fans that loves every little thing she does. Every song, every outfit, everything! I couldn't say one bad thing about any of her songs. I like to think I understand all of her outfits. I think Writer Girl took care of the "talking about the album" part, but I have a few different opinions. The first one being about Monster. I adore this song. Not only is the beat incredible, but the whole song just cracks me up. The next differentiating opinion would be about Telephone. This was one of my favorites when I first got the album, right after Dance in the Dark and Bad Romance. Like I said before, I love every track on this album. I think all of her songs have deeper meanings, but only a few fans can actually see them. ( I being one :P )
     After having this album for over a year, I've grown fond to different songs. Ones that kind of escaped the public eye. So Happy I Could Die is my favorite song on the album right now. Dance in the Dark is still up there, and Alejandro (didn't really escape the public eye) is too.
     I'm new to this whole "blogging" thing, so this post might have failed, but still. I think you all get that I am a Gaga fan, and always will be. I love that woman, and pretty much all she's done. She's opened my eyes on many political issues, and really changed my outlook on life. Michael can be the king, Cher the queen, and Britney the princess, but Gaga is the Goddess of Pop. Goddess of all music if you ask me ;)

Writer Girl's Review of: The Fame Monster

Greetings, readership!

In today's tasty morsel of opinionated awesomeness, I'll be giving my track-by-track review of an album that really shook up the music industry and raised the bar for musicians everywhere. And by raised the bar, I mean raised the bar on craziness, theatrics, and symbolistic epicness.

That's right, ladies and gentlemen: today I''ll be tackling

THE FAME MONSTER

by LADY GAGA

A Bit of History: The Fame Monster was originally intended to be a part of the re-release of Gaga's last major mainstream album , THE FAME. However, Lady Gaga felt that the re-release was too expensive, and she felt like the material for the THE FAME MONSTER was too different from the material on THE FAME to actually need to be on an album with it. So, she announced that the material would be released on a standalone album - and thus, THE FAME MONSTER was born!

The Track-by-Track:

1. BAD ROMANCE - Bad Romance is a truly amazing song. The song tackles, in my opinion, the true and honest feelings behind a relationship that's both healthy and unhealthy, and yet Gaga manages to tie it up in a package that glistens with both pop sparkle and true artistic grit. Definitely one of the best songs on the album!

Best lyrics: "Je veux ton amour, et je veux ta revanche. J'veux ton amour, I don't wanna be friends!"

2. ALEJANDRO - Another strong success for the FAME MONSTER. Alejandro comes off at first as a simple pop anthem with crafty violins, but quickly turns into something much more interesting and sinister as the songs weaves a tragic and somewhat cryptic tale. A DADT anthem, anyone?

Best lyrics: "Don't wanna kiss, don't wanna touch - just smoke my cigarette and hush."

3. MONSTER - Eh. This is where Gaga takes a turn for the worst. As a mindless pop song, this isn't bad. But it really didn't strike me as anything special. I interpretted it as being about either rape, or something just plain creepy. It's not bad, it just leaves you with the feeling that Gaga could've done something much better.

Best lyrics: "I asked my girlfriend if she'd seen you 'round before. She mumbled something while we got down on the floor."

4. SPEECHLESS - Alas, another winner! Speechless is easily my favorite song in the album, a departure from Gaga's usual electro-pop sound. Instead, SPEECHLESS is a simple piano ballad with beautiful lyrics, heartbreakingly gritty vocals, and a haunting premise that will stick in your mind for long after you first hear the song.

Best lyrics: It's a tie between "..and I know that it's complicated, but I'm a loser in love, so baby, raise a glass to mend all the broken hearts, of all my wrecked up friends" and "Could we fix you if you broke? Or is your punchline just a joke?"

5. DANCE IN THE DARK - This song is a close second in the category of, "Best Song on the Album", with an infectious beat and gorgeously tortured lyrics. The meaning of this song is much debated, ranging all the way from fear of sex to relationship abuse. To me, it really does sound like an abusive relationship, emotional or physical, leaving 'Baby' battered and insecure, and yet still, "Baby loves a dance in the dark, 'cause when he's lookin' she falls apart".

Best lyrics: "Marilyn. Judy. Sylvia. Tellem' how you feel girls! Work your Jean Benet Ramsey. We'll haunt like Liberace. Find your freedom in the music - Find your Jesus, Find your Kubrick."

6. TELEPHONE - See, this is another one those songs that strikes me as 'could've been better'. Not only does Beyonce really kind of ruin the whole song, (Does she ever NOT ruin the song?), but I also felt that the song was really kind of shallow. As a dance song and nothing else, TELEPHONE is pretty decent, but don't expect anything deep or meaningful from this one.

Best lyrics: "Stop callin', stop callin', I don't wanna think anymore. I left my head and my heart on the dancefloor."

7. SO HAPPY I COULD DIE - Though not the strongest on the album by far, I found that SO HAPPY I COULD DIE was actually a fairly good song. It had a contagiously brilliant beat, a gorgeous rhythm, and it really struck me as one of those songs with a deep meaning that could easily be missed on the first glance (alcoholism, maybe?)

Best lyrics: "Just know when that glass is empty, that the world is gonna bend."

8. TEETH - Definitely the weakest track on the album. It's fairly straight to the point about what the song is about, (Seriously. The opening lines are, "I don't want your money, I just want your sex") and I suppose it had an okaaay beat. But it lacked that poise and symbolistic subtlety that I really look for in a good Gaga song.

Best lyrics: "Just tell me it's alright. Tell me something that'll change me. I'm gonna love you with my hands tied."

OVERALL RATING: 5/8 stars.
STRAIGHT TO THE POINT: It was a good album! What it lacked in some less-than-great tracks, in made up in the phenomenal ones. It really carved Gaga her own little niche in the business, and it cemented her as a bonafide superstar.

All in all, you can expect amazing things from Lady Gaga. I can honestly say that I'm really and truly waiting for her next album (Born This Way, 2011) with bated breath (As long as Beyonce isn't on it. Yikes :/ )

Until Next Time!

- Writer Girl <3
(Song On My iPod Right Now: Summertime by My Chemical Romance)