Birthday Blues- POEM

 

Another year

getting older

and it feels

bleak,

I'm happy,

but scared

I should be happy,

I am,

but another year,

coming,

and going,

in a blink of an eye

A cake for me,

yet,

I feel down,

maybe being another year older,

gets to me,

but it's my day

a day to celebrate,

and do what I want

Christmas is coming,

as well as my birthday,

a day,

I should be happy,

and yet,

I still feel down

Maybe with it,

having Christmas coming close,

is another reason,

I'm overshadowed,

by a holiday,

not a bad thing,

but at youth,

I hated my birthday

My birthday,

then Christmas,

all wrapped up in a bow,

that's my birthday blues,

with my birthday,

close to Christmas,

good,

or bad

This Birthday,

won't make me feel blue,

close to a holiday,

every year,

no shock,

the holidays,

makes us happy and sad,

but with a birthday close,

double whammy,

Happy Birthday to me

Tupperware throughout the year

 

   Ever made a casserole dish or something you made...and you need to store it in? Well...we used containers, sometimes aluminum foil or cling wrap...but then there are dishes that are needed to be frozen, heated up and even.... stored. Tupperware was the brand name of one such thing. But....nobody talks about Tupperware anymore. Where did it come from? Who created them....and ever heard of 'Tupperware parties?'

    

    Earl Tupper gave us something for many housewives to brag about for years to come. He created a casserole dish you could use to store stroganoff, lasagna and many more. 

    He came up with the idea when he discovered polyethylene while working and decided to make cups and bowls and much more. Suddenly, he struck up an idea when they wanted to store food that people would store for later.

 Around the sixties is when Tupperware started to make a stride. Women that were considered housewives would show off their Tupperware at get togethers. Show off the type of Tupperware they would have and talk about it all.

    Some people even showed off the latest stiles. They would have get togethers just for something that you find in a kitchen. They were called.... "Tupperware Parties"

   I guess around the 60s and 70s, a lot of stuff was going on. But it seems...before women would start going to into the work force, some women would host parties and brag about who has the best this or that when it came to something you use daily.

     Tupperware Parties were just a party used for women to gather around and explain how certain containers holding food worked.

 You don't see many of those parties happening anymore, but Tupperware is still around. People would buy them to store food or cook with or even try to see what could be used for the kitchen.

   Back in the sixties, people were amazed on how overwhelming a kitchen could be. Having refrigerators that matched kitchen drapes, toasters and much more electronic devices were starting to appear. Tupperware was part of that mix.

    Tupperware is brand name; and it is still around today. We just call them containers mostly now. Tupperware has their own containers that people will still use.

   Tupperware parties are kind of passe as people now don't get what's so popular about an ordinary container. All we know is that one man decided to create something that made housewives (and husbands) even today.

Turkey Time-POEM

 

It's that time of year again

The time where Turkey fear,

they would be eaten,

A time,

where people come together,

for a big meal

One Turkey pardoned,

while others,

fear death,

as people,

flock to stores,

and buy what they will eat

Thanksgiving is coming,

and soon,

it will be Christmas,

One Holiday,

coming after another

Don't forget the sides,

The stuffing,

Mashed Potatoes,

Green Bean Casserole,

and so much more

Even the desserts,

are mouthwatering,

when family makes them,

from scratch,

Pies,

Cakes,

Cookies,

and so,

so much more.

Being with friends,

family,

or even just spending it,

with one person,

it is a special time,

to pass the turkey and fix ins as well

Feeling full afterwords,

just wanting to lie down,

and watch football,

and pray,

for a food coma

No matter how we spend it,

all we know is,

it'll come,

and will go,

before we know it,

Thanksgiving is here,

and so,

is Turkey Time,

Happy Thanksgiving

The end of Cartoon Network

 

   Even though the channel is not gone...I feel that Cartoon Network is officially over when it comes to creating new cartoons. Ever since streaming sites and other reasons...it seems cable tv has struggled to find a way to stay alive. Cartoon Network might still be on the air...but I don't think it'll be there for long.

   Cartoon Network started in the early 90's but was mostly showing Tom and Jerry, Droopy, Bug Bunny most of the cartoons we have seen before. It wasn't mostly known until the late 90's when they decided to have their own shows.

  Around 1996-97 Cartoon Network started a competition where they would pick cartoons from different animators. One even being a young Seth McFarlane. His cartoon was not chosen. But other animators were. Johnny Bravo, Grim Reaper of Billy and Mandy and even Powerpuff Girls

    There were shows like: Courage the Cowardly Dog, Ed, Edd n Eddy, Kids Next Door, Foster's home for Imaginary Friends and many more. These were the shows I used to watch (except for Kids Next Door) There were other shows as Cartoon Network tried to stay alive. They were trying to be like what Nickelodeon was. But....while Nickelodeon was trying to stay alive thanks to a yellow sponge...Cartoon Network kind of...was falling apart.

 

   Cartoon Network tried to stay alive by making new shows...Steve Universe, We Bare Bears, Rebooted Power Puff Girls, Amazing World of Gumball....most shows that are drawn similar to another. People could see the original Cartoon Network...was gone.

    Even if they turned thirty almost three years ago...it didn't help. The Studio is gone; the website is gone....it seems....my childhood is gone as well. The new generations that are watching it.... are most watching the network through streaming.

    I can tell this network is dead. It's mostly showing reruns and Adult Swim. Both are starting to show their age as it's starting to fade away into the past. Shows like Powerpuff Girls, Ed, Edd n Eddy and many more are still being remembered...but not as much as they used to be unless you stream their tv shows. Till then.... RIP Cartoon Network, we will try to miss you.

What's Brainrot?

    I must be out of the loop of what kids like today. Why? Well...first off...what the hell is brain-rot and where did it come from? Well...it might have started in Italy, but it because something extraordinary that made everyone want to know...if you can create your own brain-rot.

    

  Some people want to know where it came from. There are characters like a shark with feet or even a woman with a cappuccino for a head. There are so many characters created by brain-rot. Even a cinnamon stick with arms and legs. I don't know what these characters are. I want to know...did we have brain rot as well?

   All of us spend most of our lives on our phones scrolling through Tik-Tok or Instagram or what not. Isn't that considered brain-rot? If not...then what are these characters that are everywhere? Who created them...and why are addicted to them?

   I'm not...I mean we might have had our own brain-rot, I know Gen Z's did...but why is it popular now and not back when we were kids.

 

   The origin of the brain-rot could have happened eons ago. When the 1840 potato phamon, or potato-rot as it was known, happened. When people would starve and potatoes would rot. Are our brains like those potatoes of the 1800's?

   Who knows, but it feels that way every time someone creates a brain-rot meme or character that everyone will not stop talking about.

 Maybe the reason we haven't heard of 'brain-rot' was because the internet was just beginning. We had memes that became famous over time, but then there are other things happening. AI started creating life to make something that looks real seem as if it would never happen.

  

   There is another version called Italian Brain-rot that came from Italy. They are full of internet memes that seem too real to be true. They made memes, AI and a lot more/

   It started in 2023, and I don't think it's going to stop anytime soon. They even created characters out of their Brain-rot AI's. Even toys were starting to become known.

    I don't think brain-rot is ever going to go away. Not even stuff from Gen Alpha or Beta or what not sayings. Everything has a strange connection. When I was young, our words were 'as if', 'whatever', 'so over it'.

     Now it's: 'Ohio', 67' 'Slay', 'Lit', 'Tea.' Even words are brain rot to certain people. Whoever started this trend....either they're going to be rich...or get a lot of hate mail from certain people thinking...this is the new norm.

What killed MTV?

 

  Generation Xers would be sad to hear that MTV is ending. Well....the music portion of it that is. I remember MTV for its music videos, and certain news programs. Now...it's just nothing but Reality shows since 'Jersey Shore' was considered a ratings hit. For me...it was a plummet to where MTV could never return to.

    Music Television.

  MTV was started 3 years before I was born. Generation X was mostly known as the 'MTV Generation'; I sadly....am not that generation. Yet...I remember the music videos they played and how amazing it was that music videos were getting attention as well as VH1 was another music station.

    The question is.... when did it all go wrong?

   MTV was just not meant for music videos. They had game shows that were cringed to watch...even if they were more meant for teenagers.

     Around the 90s, they even started showing cartoons like 'Bevis and Butthead'. That's when MTV was becoming popular. It was a cartoon not meant for children. 

 

     Not only was MTV showing Bevis and Butthead, but other shows that were interesting. Like Daria...which got her start on MTV and ended by the time the mid 2000's were around.

     Other MTV shows were around as well. They even had MTV Unplugged where most musicians would perform. Nirvana was another where Kurt Cobain performed one of his most memorable songs. Sadly, it would be the last time he would be seen alive.

     What I remember most about my middle to high school adolescence.... was watching TRL after school was over. TRL or Total Request Live, came around in 1999 and stayed for a couple of years. They would countdown what music videos were on the list.

    They would have the guest of those music videos like a young Britney Spears to N'SYNC to Backstreet Boys. Carson Dailey was the host of the show until he left, and MTV decided to retool it.

   Even if I was little...I would remember people shout: "I want my MTV." Now, I think they're shouting: 'What the hell happened to MTV?"

   Was it TRL that started the downfall of MTV? I don't think so...but MTV was starting to go away from Music Television and focus on reality shows. Ever since Survivor was the biggest hit, MTV was starting to think...they should make their own reality shows.

  Jersey Shore became a hit on MTV and suddenly.... music videos were rarely seen on TV unless it was 3 to 6 in the morning...and who would be awake to watch Music Videos.

    By the time 2010 came around...MTV stopped airing Music Videos. With the rise of YouTube and other sites to watch or even listen to Music was more the popular way. 

  Sometimes...you would have to imagine music videos of certain songs you liked.

   I've already talked about Parental Control before. That was another live action reality show on MTV. Even though most of it was scripted...it played out like a real show. 

    There were more than just Parental Control. They also had World Strictest Parents....Wife Swanp and many more. 

    It is sad what MTV became after being known for its Music Videos and became known for mostly reality shows.

   They had other channels to help make their station stronger. Showing that they were still showing Music Videos. Some from back in the 80s, they even had news. Now...MTV is nothing.

   VH1 vanished as well.... but at least we still remember the pop-up videos that came with it. MTV is no longer the Music Television it used to be. For shame. (RIP 1981-2025)

Songs that sound similar

     I don't know if its singer realizes what they are doing when they are creating their music. Some of them don't even realize they were stealing a bit of music from another song. Like ABC sounding similar to Twinkle, Twinkle little star.

   Here are some songs that have a similarity from the background music to the way people are singing.

     "Jack and Diane" by John Mellencamp was known a song that had a great rhythm. I enjoyed the song for a while and then...Jessica Simpson came out with "I think I'm in love with you". What's wrong with the song was it had the same background music.

     I didn't care for that song, and I think Mellencamp was not happy at all. If I had to pick, I'll stick to the Mellencamp song.

    The Rolling Stones had many of their songs stolen. Well not only did one song of theirs get stolen...I think I like the song. The short-lived band The Verve copied one of the songs by Rolling Stones to make their hit "Bittersweet Symphony"

  Let's just say the Rolling Stones were not happy one bit with their song "The last time" sounding like another song. Eventually Verve left the music and Rolling Stones is still around.

    Ever heard of the song "Under Pressure" by Queen featuring Bowie? If some kids recognize the background music, they might think they're listening to Vanilla Ice's "Ice Ice Baby." Well....Queen came first. His song came out after Freddie Mercury's death, and it angered many fans of Queen.

     Eventually, it settled down after court hearings...but Vanilla Ice wouldn't back down claim his version is different from there's. You be the judge and listen to both songs.

    Another copy and paste song are one by Bruno Mars called "Locked outta Heaven". It seems he might have been ripping off Sting's song "Roxanne" when he was with the Police. It does have a similar background noise, but I like both songs.

    I don't know what happened or if there were court hearings or what not, but I think Bruno Mars has apologized to Sting and they're friends.

   A lot of songs are starting to recognize that they might be copying and pasting from others. Like Tom Petty with Red Hot Chilli Peppers or even Oasis copying from their own music. It doesn't matter with certain songs, but if the singer feels that they are liable to sue, then they will.

   Another song that felt stolen is from a band called Berlin with their song "Take my breath away" and later having it be copy and paste by Lady Gaga's "Paparazzi" Both songs are good, but "Paparazzi" was soon retooled by another band and it's pretty good as well.

    Even some of the songs will end up being taken and re-tooled by another band and people might like that one more than the other.

   Sometimes you can't tell which song is the original from the copy version. Some can...but not all. I prefer either song. Original or copy. You can be the judge because it's not just these songs that are getting the copied treatment. 

   Tom Petty, TLC, Beyonce....most of their songs had been copied and pasted to another. It's still gonna happen even after we're gone. Just for future singers, be careful and listen to other music before creating yours.