Oh to be a Royal!

The cover of Parade this week posed the question "Do we need royalty in the 21st century?" I skipped the article because my brain was already going and I didn't want to muddle my thoughts. I'm such a responsible journalist, don't ya know!

Do we need royalty? Maybe not. I mean what do they do but wave and smile and serve a ceremonial purpose? But on the other hand maybe we do need them.

Who is the standard of proper behavior?

The Queen. Think about it. Anytime anyone visits her or if she visits the States like she did last spring, everyone is mindful of proper protocol, behavior and manners. You stand a little taller if The Queen is looking your direction. You make sure you scrub behind your ears if you are going to even be in the same state as The Queen.

I contend then that we do need the royals. We need the Queen anyway. Charles and Harry? Maybe not. William has been doing ok so far so we'll keep him around.

Perhaps it isn't the royals themselves that we need around but what they represent - a higher standard. Maybe we need people to expect more of one another. Maybe we need people to call one another out on manners and behavior more often.

But that would require people to stop being offended by every criticism. That would require people to acknowledge that not all behavior is acceptable. Folks would have to actually live like they had pride in themselves and cared about what other people thought about them. And not just on a superficial "how do I look" level. People would have to care if people respected them.

People would have to be willing to earn others' respect through respectable behaviors.

So you tell me. Can it be done? Can a higher standard be presented and grown? Will people actually start to put a napkin in their laps before they eat? Will they take their elbows off the table? Can sophistication and honor be restored?

Is there Any Justice in the World?

I am so confused about the American justice system right now.

For starters we live in Atlanta so the whole Michael Vick thing was a big deal. So was TI (the rapper in case anyone was under a rock). Well apparently now being a criminal is the thing to do if you are looking for career advancement and an income generator.

I was applauding TI for a while because he did the whole Road to Redemption thing on MTV (I think?!). It really DID look like he was trying to teach youth from his experience and I applauded that. He did the big community service before he even went to jail and now he is serving his sentence. It was the honorable thing to do in my book.

But now I was watching the news again and Michael Vick and Rod Blagovich are being offered reality TV series in conjunction with their new criminal status. Seriously? Is that justice? These guys commit crimes and they are rewarded with lucrative contracts for television. And why do I have a problem with them and not TI? Is it because TI did it BEFORE he went to jail? Of course I don't know what Vick or Blago are going to do as their series. Are they going to do a public service project like TI did? Or is it just going to be a series about them trying to get their lives back?

I just have issues with people being given a 10 year sentence and then they are released 2 years into it to serve a few months in "home confinement." For celebrities the latter is a complete farce considering what their "confined" lifestyle is like.

It comes as no surprise to me that Chris Brown is going to have a glorified lifestyle after the Rhianna incident. It seems to me that justice is a completely lost notion anymore. Individuals can't serve a full sentence because the jails are too crowded but we glorify crime via the celebrities (think Paris Hilton) and let criminals off with a slap on the wrist.

Maybe the time has come to reinstate a chain gang and bread and water. Maybe if hard time really existed for real crimes people would actually try to lead socially responsible lives.

Or maybe I was just born in the wrong generation all together.

See Alcatraz! When justice meant something!

I Wonder if She's Married.

NY Giants need a sack—to cover fan’s racy outfit
As if the NY Giants weren't having a tough enough time of it with Plaxico's nonsense, now their fans have gone crazy too!

Dec 15, 9:17 am EST
NEW YORK (AP)—The New York Giants need another sack—to cover a flamboyant fan who wears skimpy outfits.

Sondra Fortunato went to Giants Stadium last week wearing a Santa Claus outfit, a tiara, fishnet stockings, a bathing suit bottom and high-heeled boots.

She also had a suitcase and two 11-by-17 signs reading “Go Giants” and “Have a No Guns Christmas,” referring to the team’s wide receiver shooting himself in the leg.

She insists nothing naughty was showing even though she’s “well-endowed.” As the middle-aged woman puts it, “You couldn’t even see my underwear.”

The Giants apparently saw it another way.

Security escorted her out, saying signs and baggage weren’t allowed and telling her to cover up because there were children present. She figures other women “got jealous and complained.”

Information from: New York Post, http://www.nypost.com/

Maybe I would feel differently if I was a rabid fan of a team. Sure she was showing her team spirit but what else was she showing? It's New York. In December. And she was in fishnets and a bikini bottom? Really? At least she was wearing boots! I'd hate for her to catch cold!

(You mean she looked something like a Santa version of THIS?)

I'm a little disturbed that she didn't buy the "children present" reasoning for asking her to cover up or leave. Why do women always go for the "they are all jealous of me" reasoning? Are we really that egotistical? Or are we that shallow? Or are we that insecure that we have to dress like tramps to get attention and then when we embarass the fool out of ourselves we have to get defensive and blame it on someone else?

And what about those men that you see at EVERY game (college or pro) who feel the need to inflict their guts and other body parts (you've seen the droopy drawers - don't deny it!) on us in person or on live TV? Were they asked to put clothes on? Were any of them escorted from the game? Just because they can doesn't mean they should. And what happened to the rule "what's good for the goose is good for the gander"?

One final rambling from my little blue bowl I call a brain. What in the world is with the fan costumes anyway? I'm all for folks wearing a jersey or team gear but do they really need to go THAT far? What does it have to do with football? And what about the people around you? Do you think all of them want to be staring at your garish attire for 4 hours while you get loaded and do everything you possibly can to get on TV so that you can call your buddies at the bar who weren't "lucky" enough to get tickets and scream (unintelligibly) "DID YA SEE ME?!?! DID YA? WHOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!"

I think this is the first time I've heard of a woman going all out (maybe literally - there wasn't a picture with the article!). And I don't remember ever really seeing women on TV all decked out in the nonsense. I'm wondering if it's a guy thing and maybe she was just trying to find a fan soul mate.

Maybe I should just come to grips with the fact that I'll never really get it.