Tonight is the finals for Dancing with the Stars. Yeah, I've admitted before I love it, so stop laughing. It's also Monday Night Football with the Steelers, which is broadcast locally on our ABC affiliate so the finals have been pre-empted. AND because there's been lightning, the teams haven't even done their warm ups yet, so the game has been delayed. So--there's no game to show AND we still don't get to see DWTS. If Steeler football wasn't a religion in this household (and if my girl Sabrina was actually in the finals) you'd better believe I'd be much more miffed than I am now. Right now, I am just laughing my arse off at the irony.
Go Mel & Maks!
I am posting this on behalf of twitter friend (and fellow nuring mom) Laura Fitton :
You as a journalist should be aware of this situation with Facebook.
Facebook reportedly banned/censored profile photos of nursing mothers on the grounds that they are obscene:
-The Age (Australian Newspaper) report dated Sept. 7th (note, topless ads are referred to even back then) http://urltea.com/25xw -Facebook Group (yeah, ironic, I know) that is petition against Facebook for banning nursing photos: http://snipurl.com/1u18x As of the other day, this group has 34,264 members -Blog post dated Sept. 12 about the situation: http://urltea.com/25xv
This week a prominent Boston-area blogger named Chris Brogan was served, and reported on his blog and on twitter, ads for a sex video chat service. The ad was a photo of a topless woman provocatively posed -Blog post documenting topless ads served to Facebook business user:
http://tinyurl.com/2gsc29
In addition to the inconsistency of these actions/policies, having topless ads on a "business-oriented" social network is a serious liability for Facebook.
Another piece of the puzzle is that analysis of Facebook's own targeted advertising data, 2/3 of their use is coming from women.
Interesting they would treat breasts so badly, considering this.
http://www.profy.com/2007/11/23/women-growing-to-become-great-majority-on-the-social-web/
To editorialize: Pretty egregious, and I am amazed they haven't been called on it or pressed to respond. I think the general public would be kind of horrified by this. I think the situation is outrageous and Facebook should immediately, and loudly, address it, fix it, and apologize.
Thanks for any ideas or follow-up you wish to share.
With regards,
Laura Fitton
(Social Media Consultant and nursing mother)
www.pistachioconsulting.com
www.brainsieve.com
www.twitter.com/pistachio
I needed a mental break from work (and migraine) so I thought I might as well get at least one Halloween picture posted before Thanksgiving!
Fellow Steelers fans, please forgive my dad for the Eagles shirt. I know I shouldn't have let him in the house, lol.
It's snowing!
Abbey: Mom, I want to paint in the kitchen.
Me: Not right now, honey. Mumma just cleaned up the kitchen and I want it to stay nice at least a little while.
Abbey: But you can clean it again after I'm done painting, ok?
::headdesk::
In other news, I haven't been blogging (or even tweeting) much lately because the kids and I have all been varying degrees of sick over the past week, with Abbey having gotten it the worst. We ended up having to miss my nephew's first birthday party last weekend (and it sounds like they're all sick over there as well). I spent the rest of the week coordinating our joint-exhibit promotion with Imagekind, rolling out the new member list for EBSQ Juried Artists, and then the weekend doing a manual database audit. Fun fun fun! So right now, I just want to revel in my fabulously clean (and paint-free) kitchen table, read my feeds, and drink a cup of cocoa. At least for a little while before I succumb to Abbey's superior powers of persuation.
I've been having a bit of a "day" and have been kvetching about it with a co-worker. She shared the following wisdom:
Some girls are embarrassed to admit they love sci-fi. I am a little embarrassed to admit that I love dance shows. Always have. American Bandstand. Dance Fever. Dance Party USA. And who from my peer group doesn't remember The Solid Gold Dancers with some affection? Hell, I even loved me some Fly Girls back in the day. So, knowing this about me, it should come as no surprise that I have been watching Dancing with the Stars from day one, Season One. With the notable exception of Drew Lachey, the best dancer has never won in any season. Although all of the best dancers (with the exception of Stacy Keebler) have always blessedly made it to the finals. Until now.
If you heard a wailing, "Noooooooooooo!" and a hell of a lot of sobbing coming from Western PA on Tuesday night, that would have been me, shocked, disgusted, and incredibly sad to see Sabrina Bryan and her professional partner, Mark Ballas Jr, be sent home halfway through the competition, even though she was clearly the best dancer there, and quite possibly the best dancer to grace their ballroom since the debut of the American version of the competion. She received one of the highest first round scores of any competitor ever. She received a perfect score in her 4th week for their Paso Doble, which was historic (and weeks before we've seen other good dancers get perfect scores in the past).
As a product of Disney, she should have had a built-in fan base. And as someone who obviously fell in love with her partner and us getting to see that young romance blossom in front of our eyes, she should have won over the romantics (and anyone who knows me well knows this factor appealled to me almost as much as the dancing!)
Instead I hear the fact that she was too good, and people are glad she lost. That her ability to dance hip-hop gave her an unfair advantage, and again, glad she lost. That she was fat and noone wanted to see a piggy in a tutu. That her story was boring (WHAT?? Hello, isn't it obvious by the way they couldn't let go of each other, particularly after she was sent home that SHE AND MARK ARE A COUPLE??? How is that boring?) Or that her dancing was too agressive.
Now, I spent some time last night rewatching all of her dances from the past 6 weeks (and stupidly rewatched her being sent home, which had me in tears again). I looked at the stylistic similarities in all the dances. Looked at the criticisms. I didn't see criticisms of her dance technique. If one listens closely to the crits, they're all a critique of Mark's choreography, not Sabrina's dancing. Their Week 5 Rumba, perfect example.
The criticisms of this dance, particularly from Len, was that there were "too many tricks." Well gee, who was doing the tricks? Mark, doing his usual spins and jumps. Not that I didn't enjoy them, but they also aren't typically seen in the rumba.
Another example of this? Mark throwing in his bizarre breakdancing move into their jive in week 3.
Seeing all of these dances together, and given that Mark Ballas' personal history: parents are dance champions and sought-after instructors, grew up with other dancers in the house, including fellow professional competitors Derek and Julianne Hough, being new to Dancing with the Stars, and having a really good partner (with whom he formed a romantic attachment, no less), I think Mark had something to prove. And I don't blame him for that. That being said, I thought his choreography for their week 6 foxtrot was entirely appropriate. The dance suited Sabrina, had Len's "light and shade" despite claims by Len and Bruno otherwise, and was a perfect match for their music (which the dancers don't get to pick, which makes no sense to me, but whatever.)
This dance had power AND elegance. I thought she was simply fantastic. Mark reigned himself in as well. They moved beautifully as a couple. And who could miss that wonderfully gratuitous nose-rub in the middle?
So when this happened--
Yeah, she was robbed. And I am still personally feeling devastated. Yeah, it's a dance show. So what. I feel the show will be less without her.
/gratuitous girliness
