Wipe That Smile Off Your Face!

“All the factors say go, but my heart says “no”.    Mike Huckabee

I watched a news report yesterday about a study that concluded that guys who are smiling are not attractive.  I also read a tweet earlier in the day from a local radio station with a joke about it, saying something like: “Study says happy guys are unattractive, I say go #$@* yourself“.

Personally I’m not really too surprised, I guess if I ever found myself single again I might have to change my avatar since I look pretty happy on it. But, seriously it doesn’t really bother me too much because I used to be completely inspired by Hollywood’s heroes like Jean-Claude Van Damme with their cold-blooded movie cover poses, too. Today I can step back and observe without feeling compelled to imitate whoever is starring in the latest action blockbuster.

That’s right, back in the days when I’d be going to clubs I would walk around with a stupid looking snarl on my face as if I were looking to avenge my keyed Mustang (I never actually owned one). When I heard the report I came to the conclusion that if a guy was actually in a state of  bliss he isn’t going to be disheartened by this study, whereas if the winner of the study, the proud, serious-looking “Bad Boy” lost he would probably be seriously considering filing a lawsuit for defamation of character.

I guess it probably goes both ways, though because in my younger days commercials or ads with unhappy-looking women definitely seemed more alluring. Nowadays if I see smiling faces in advertising, it seems to be more heart-warming and therefore if the product they’re selling seems relevant to my needs, I might be more inclined to buy it as opposed to an ad that seems negative.

So What’s In It For The Players?

On the news report I saw some young women explaining why they’d be more inclined to seek a relationship with the guy with the jutting chin, chest out, and grave look in their eyes. They said things like he’d be more manly, mysterious or dangerous and I think it’s probably a primitive thing. The father is someone who’ll be able to protect and provide for their young. So what would be the point in pursuing a relationship with a guy who doesn’t appear to have that killer instinct and seems content to just let things be?

I believe that everyone is entitled to their opinion but I’m sure a lot of relationships with so-called “Bad Boys” usually end with a lot of sadness and shame. It really seems like a game that is doomed to failure, but maybe it’s always been this way on a certain level and nowadays we’re just more hung up about breakups. I’m sure that in ancient times with the alpha male having hundreds of kids with hundreds of mothers there was no qualms about him being a “Deadbeat Dad”, the mothers were just glad to have a healthy baby. Nowadays people like ODB (god rest his soul) from the Wu Tang Clan get a really bad rap, and with the conditions of society today it’s understandable.

I feel kinda foolish to admit this but when I was younger and saying a lot of bad words, wearing my game face, not caring about other people’s feelings, drinking too much, and doing stuff that was totally self-centered it was only my way of saying “I don’t want to be alone”. A lot has changed for me since I realized how important it is to be happy and I’m proud to say that I don’t get depressed half as often. Since there’s less guilt about being someone I’m not because of feeling like the odds are against me I thankfully no longer feel the need to wipe that smile off my face.

Cartoon Geniuses

“There’s a saying: Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift. That is why it is called the present.” Oogway the Turtle 

So I thought I’d test the waters a little bit on FaceBook and throw a question out there: Who is the smartest cartoon character?

I got one response from a sarcastic friend of mine and I’m pretty sure that he doesn’t exist. One of my youngins suggested Inspector Gadget, who puts on a good front, but it’s plain to see that, although he can pull off the most challenging of feats, it all obviously happened by accident.

My Pick

I was watching Kung Fu Panda last weekend and couldn’t help but be struck by Oogway’s infinite wisdom. I was dining at the Noodle House earlier that day for the first time ever. It had opened when I was about 13 and I’d always assumed it only sold noodles. Of course I was not foolish enough to pay anything more than 50 cents for noodles and I always kept a supply of Mr. Noodles handy. Anyways, when I went they sold more than noodles and I was impressed with the food and service, they treated us like family. They also had some free books on Buddhist teachings and I gladly took a couple. They reminded me of the type of stuff that the old Turtle from Kung Fu Panda would say like everything and nothing are the same.

Honorable Mentions

So it’s fair to say that Oogway is my pick for the smartest cartoon, but what do you think? Here are some other names worth mentioning with my favorite YouTube Links:

1. Dr. Cockroach from Monsters Vs. Aliens. Hugh Laurie and his English accent would make any character look like a genius.
2. Mr. Peabody makes it look easy as he casually bounced around in time and always had a logical explanation for his ol’ buddy Sherman.
3. Stewy Griffin of The Family Guy might have a head shaped like a football and be a baby, but when it comes to elaborated schemes, there’s none better.
4. Lisa Simpson was a child prodigy beyond compare, she had enough brains and determination to easily become America’s first female president. Unfortunately, after about twenty years without aging it’s pretty obvious that she’ll never even be old enough to vote.
5. And last but not least, South Park’s Mr. Mackey.(That link contains f-bombs, for mature audiences only!) He’s taught the children of South Park about the dangers of substance abuse, which is such a delicate topic, with such wisdom and insight that even the most erudite of cartoon fans can walk away feeling humbled and richer in knowledge.

Who’s your favorite cartoon genius?

The Voice on a Chocolate Crash?

You don’t have to be singing about love all the time in order to give love to the people. You don’t have to keep flashing those words all the time.
Jimi Hendrix

Microphone

I’m sitting here watching a new show called “The Voice” on NBC after watching a rather depressing show in french on Radio-Canada about Les Phoques. My voice is back to normal after sounding kinda “froggy” for about a week. I’m thankful for that since I’ll be recording some more radio in a few days. Could it be all the chocolate that I’ve binged on since Easter?

On Friday, I felt great about all the fun to be had on the long weekend. Now it’s Tuesday and I’m healthy, I felt a little sleep deprived over the weekend with work and celebrations. After going for a swim today my eyes are burning and I was wondering earlier if all that chocolate made me feel emotional, after all there’s supposed to be some stuff in chocolate (I’m not interested in doing any research at the moment, but it’s probably not hard to find info on Wikipedia or something) that gives you some kind of a high and what goes up must come down as they say.

The Moment Has Passed

I gotta say that right now I feel a lot happier than I did when I was washing dishes about an hour ago with thoughts of inadequacy crossing my mind as the ideas flowed as they often do while in the midst of a monotonous task. I was thinking about how much I want to get done this week and wishing I had more time to pull it off. Tomorrow I’m scheduled to interview a band called The Manifolds in town, meet with a local business owner who also happens to be a bit of a mentor to me to discuss the Atlantic music scene, and hopefully make it to a drummer’s circle in the evening.  There are a few options for Thursday as far as what to do. On Friday I plan to help my father out with some renovations. And on Saturday there’s a writing workshop.

I’m also getting close to finishing up my website for opening night reviews of the long running plays on PEI this summer. If I can stay focussed I’ll be done this week and get a domain name registered.

Everything actually seems to be pretty good now that I think about it, including the show “The Voice”. I think the performers are all very respectable as singers and people. I thought the auditions were probably well prepared for and sounded like great live renditions of some pretty decent songs. I’m sure that everybody’s impressed with at least one or two of the judges, the soulful Cee Lo Green, stellar vocalist Christina Aguilera, Maroon 5′s Adam Levine, and country singer Blake Shelton. They’re a good bunch up there, they get along (so far), and most importantly all of the criticism is constructive and well informed.

I used to think that show’s with auditions were kind of cruel and took the focus off of the music to shed light on how much “talent” someone has or doesn’t have. Personally, I think that there are many factors that decide whether or not a person is going to be a “star”. However, when it comes to vocals there’s really no gray area, you’re either singing in key or off key. This show seems to be more about the judges putting their name behind their favorite singers as opposed to giving opinions about what the contestant did right or wrong.

Tears of Joy?

I feel pretty good right now although my eyes are still stinging enough to make tears fall. Earlier on I convinced myself that it was sorrow, and obviously something in the water that I swam in didn’t mix well with my eyes. I turned down the brightness on my monitor, thought out what I have planned this week, and listened to some impressive television. I don’t want to sound picky or anything but TV doesn’t often impress me, so this is quite refreshing. I think I’ll give the computer a rest tonight.

Are there any shows that you thought you wouldn’t like that turned out to be pretty cool?

Here’s the video for “Crazy” sung by Cee Lo when he was Gnarls Barkley. (I couldn’t embed this one)