Author: paris22

Further Proof That Beyoncé is a Higher Being

paris22Leave a comment
Photo Credit: Pitchfork

On Saturday, October 15, Beyoncé was performing at her Tidal concert, when her braid got caught on her one of her earrings, and the earring RIPPED OUT OF HER EARLOBE.

Photo Credit: US Weekly

Queen Bey didn’t miss a beat in her dance routine however, and kept performing. Later in the performance, Beyoncé touched her earlobe, saw blood on her fingers, and kept singing in a way so holy you might think you just saw God. Now that’s a real performer.

Either Beyoncé is some sort of higher being, or she has superhuman pain tolerance… Or else everyone’s right and she really is a part of the Illuminati (jokes).

After the concert, fans started the hashtags #CutforBeyoncé and #BleedforBeyonce, which are pretty much just a bunch images featuring cuts and injuries. Do not look it up, I made that mistake.

This concert pretty much just proved, once again, the immense power that is Beyoncé.

Halloween

paris22Leave a comment
Photo Credit: Urban Matter

It is now mid October, and IT’S STILL SUNNY AND WARM IN OJAI. This irritates me to no end, which means this post will be a long rant.

In Ojai, and pretty much all of Southern California, three of our seasons are summer, and the fourth season is kind of cold, but not really. This means, there is a very good chance that Halloween will be a warm, sunny day. There will also be no cool decorations around town like the Jack O’Lanterns in Chicago (pictured).

Disneyland, scary movies, and cold weather are all things I associate with Halloween. But, obviously the cold weather part isn’t exactly true for California.

But, Halloween is still one of my favorite holidays, whether it’s 80 degrees (ew) or 50. And, The Tower of Terror is closing at California Adventures, which is an amusement park tragedy. But it’s all ok, because after Halloween, Thanksgiving Break will be closer than ever.

Celebrity Designers

paris22Leave a comment
Yeezy Season 3 Fashion Show in Madison Square Garden — Photo Credit: NY Times

Kanye. Rihanna. Gigi.

Celebrities entering the high fashion arena is becoming a common occurrence. Kanye West’s collaboration with Adidas, Yeezy, has released multiple seasons, each season selling out faster than the last. Rihanna’s collection for Puma, FENTY, just showcased its second season. Model Gigi Hadid also did a capsule collection for Tommy Hilfiger.

But these aren’t like the typical celebrity brands being sold in shopping malls, targeted at the masses. Kanye, Rihanna, and Gigi’s collaborations are all being marketed as high fashion. All three of these shows were showcased during fashion week. Kanye’s controversial  Yeezy Season 4 was held in Roosevelt Island, garnering countless celebs and fashion’s elite. Gigi’s show, held during NY Fashion Week as well, was a spectacle to say the least. The show, a full-blown carnival theme, had A-list celebrities sitting front, fashion’s top models walking, and a huge social media presence. Rihanna’s show, however, was held during Paris Fashion Week.

These celebrity’s personal styles are influencing these collections, considering many designers couldn’t get away with a collection that looked like it was chewed up by a pack of wolves before it debuted on the runway, besides Kanye West. These celebrities are also transforming these brands such as Adidas, Puma, and Tommy Hilfiger into not just popular brands, but high fashion brands. Do I agree with this, or the fact that celebrities are now becoming “high fashion” designers? Not very much, but it doesn’t matter, people are still going to buy a $800 ripped up sweatshirt from Adidas, because it was “made” by Kanye West.

Model Gigi Hadid Criticized for Physically Defending Herself

paris22Leave a comment
Photo Courtesy: etonline.com

While leaving the Max Mara fashion in Milan this week, fashion model Gigi Hadid was attacked by Vitalii Sediuk, a well-known prankster. He came up behind Hadid, grabbed her, and lifted her off the ground. Hadid immediately fought back, elbowing him and trying to get out of Vitalii’s grasp. After this incident occurred, headlines appeared criticizing Hadid’s reaction to the attack. While I never read any of the articles criticizing Hadid for defending herself from an attacker, I did see the controversy on Twitter and it was insane. Many tabloids claimed Hadid lashed out a fan and that her behavior was inappropriate.

Later that night, there were articles about how Hadid flashed her breasts during a fashion show, hours after lashing out at a fan. One headline from The Sun actually read, “NOT MODEL BEHAVIOR, Gigi Hadid aggressively lashes out and ELBOWS fan in the FACE after he tries to pick her up.” Hadid did not lash out at a fan, she defended herself from an attacker. Before these tabloids were criticized for their backwards reaction to the situation, none of the tabloids criticized Vitalii for assaulting Hadid, in fact most didn’t even claim he was in the wrong.

Vitalii is not a fan, he is a man who is known for harassing celebrities. Hadid is not the first celebrity he has attacked, as he seems under the impression he is allowed to grab and violate whomever he likes. Sediuk apparently attacked Hadid because he believes Hadid has no place in the fashion world, and hoped this stunt would encourage companies and magazines to use models with “true talent”. Hadid had every right to defend herself, and Vitalii had no right to grab her and violate her space.

School Dress Code

paris22Leave a comment

 

Photo Credit: Twitter User @Harika101

School Dress Code. It’s quite a hot topic at pretty much any school that has a dress code. The most frustrating aspect of most school’s dress codes is the attitude taken toward female students.

The restrictions placed on girls’ outfits can be numerous. There are restrictions on girls tops, in case their shoulders are too inappropriate to show in broad daylight, or, god forbid, her bra strap shows. Because the fact that many females wear bras is a secret that the female population must keep under wraps for the protection of adolescent teenage boys. Or, even worse, girls don’t wear a bra. Because male nipples are okay, but female nipples are a crime?

There is also the problem of shorts, skirts, and dresses. Too much of the thigh can’t show, because, as everybody knows, the skin on ones upper thigh is completely different than the skin on the knee, calf, or arm. Even butt cheeks! Everyone has them, crazy right?

All jokes aside, no one is expecting the school system to allow students to wear whatever they want, be it their birthday suit or a pant suit. But schools do need to recognize that modern fashion does not fit into what many school’s dress codes allow, and if they’re expecting female students to dress in Bermuda Shorts (YUCK) and long sleeves as to not “distract” the other students from learning, here’s a tip: stop sexualizing female bodies and treating them as a distraction, because a girl attending school should not be thought of as a “distraction” for dressing in modern clothing.

Bad Singers

paris22Leave a comment

I have spent the majority of this year singing at random times, even though I know I’m musically impaired.

But why are some people ear-splittingly bad, à la moi?  Yahoo explains.

Some people’s brain simply can not perceive notes correctly, which produces the sound of a dying cow when singing (or, at least, for me).

But the shape of your vocal tracks are also a factor that can determine whether you’re a Sugar Motta (Glee, look it up) or you’re a Streisand.

20% of people can’t control their vocal muscles, they’re too powerful (the latter is not a scientific fact).

But there is hope! For those who simply have trouble matching the pitch of a song, vocal training can improve this.

Or, you can accept your tone-deafness and own it. You may not be cast as Glinda in Wicked on Broadway, but that’s true even for people that can sing, so don’t take it too hard.

Cannes Fashion

paris22Leave a comment

Cannes 2016 is coming to a close, and as the celebrities, or more likely, their assistants, pack up their designer gowns, suits, and shoes, and prepare for their next red carpet here are my favorite looks.

Sonam Kapoor

http://static.dnaindia.com/sites/default/files/styles/half/public/2016/05/07/457903-sonam-cannes-2.jpg?itok=XDeTEGgq

Kapoor announced that her Ellie Saab dress would have an Indian element to it, and this dress did not disappoint.

Bella Hadid 

While she may not have graced the red carpet in this look, that does not make it any less gorgeous. Hadid’s fresh, dewy makeup, sleek ponytail, and simple white ensemble are a perfect fit for summer. Christian Dior’s property behind Hadid doesn’t hurt either.

Amal Alamuddin and George Clooney

Power. Couple. Alamuddin’s pale yellow gown is one many could not pull off, but, obviously, Alamuddin is not one of those people.

Victoria Beckham

Posh always kills it, and this masculine inspired piece is no exception.

Blake Lively

While Lively was as Cannes promoting her movie The Shallows, she also happened to promote the Cinderella movie when she arrived on the carpet bearing a striking resemblance to the princess herself. But, Lively pretty much is a princess, so I’m not surprised.

 

The Infamous Gap Year

paris22Leave a comment

Image Credit: gapyear.com

Currently I’m writing an article about a senior who is taking the path less travelled. Rather than jumping straight from high school to college, she’s taking a year in between. Before I started writing this articles I knew what gap years were, but I associated them with partying and messing around. That is not the case. Students who take gap years get to travel, do charity work, take a break from the competitive atmosphere of high school before going into even more rigorous college academics, work, and discover themselves out in the world on their own. Even Harvard recommends gap years. Just look at Malia Obama. Gap years are finally starting to drift away from the notion that they are filled with parties and are starting to be recognized as beneficial. I’m grateful I was given this article to write, because now I am aware all the benefits gap years can yield, and who knows, maybe I’ll take one now.

Finals

paris22Leave a comment

Photo Credit: theodysseyonline.com

English. Math. Language. History. Science.

These are just the core subjects on which students are preparing to be tested on for the last time this year. But for some students, the list goes past these 5. Or they might be taking the AP classes of them, and are preparing for the AP tests kicking off on Monday. Our teachers, parents, elders, siblings, etc. reiterate the same “comforting” words of wisdom: don’t worry.

How are we not supposed to worry when some of these tests affect up to 50% of our grade? How are we not supposed to worry if we  end up getting poor grades and are punished for it. Or the fact that colleges and universities will be looking at these grades and our GPA’s, two things that are heavily affected by these finals.

They tell us not to worry, not to stress, get plenty of sleep, and relax during finals week but when it comes down to it most of the people telling students these things will be disappointed when we don’t reach their expectations.

And the stress keeps piling up as we move up the ranks in high school. During finals, 10th graders wish to have it as easy as 9th graders, 11th graders feel this way about 10th graders, and I’m guessing 12th graders just want to leave high school.

 

Don’t Keep Calm: Beyoncé Released Her Album

paris22Leave a comment

Photo Credit: newsweek.com

After a three year wait since her last self-titled album, Beyoncé has blessed the world, yet again, with another visual album, Lemonade. HBO was the first to release the exclusive content to the world, and then it hit Tidal, a music streaming site Bey co-owns. For the first 24 hours of the pandemonium that came with Lemonade, only HBO and Tidal had rights to the album. But at 9 pm (in California) Lemonade iTunes. Beyoncé’s last visual album, Beyoncé, was dropped by surprised, sending the beyhive, and, well most of the pop culture world into a confused flurry trying to digest the news. Lemonade was different. Earlier in 2016, Beyoncé first dropped the single Formation, the song that brought the lyrics, “I got hot sauce in my bag, swag” into the world (P.S.: Lemonade reveals that hot sauce is actually the name of Beyoncé’s baseball bat, it is in fact, not, a spicy condiment for one’s food). This song left the world wondering is a new album was soon to follow. Then Beyoncé shared on Instagram that the special Lemonade would be shown on HBO Saturday, April 23rd. And now we are here, listening to Lemonade, watching Lemonade, and obsessing over Lemonade. Thank you Beyoncé.