Okay, I just like saying his name…is that weird?! I don’t care.

And actually, this isn’t even about Simba.

This morning I said goodbye to my little porcelain figurine set of Kiara and Kovu; sent them off to their new home, their eBay winner. In case you don’t know/your memory needs refreshing, Kiara is the darling daughter of Simba and Nala. In Lion King 2: Simba’s Pride, Kiara falls in love with Kovu, a sexy young lion (with the same color scheme as Scar)  from the rival group of lions. This, of course, depicts before they fell in love but rather, when they first became friends as adorable cubs.

I was sad to see them go, but alas, I can’t keep all of my really cool things and I’m trying to make as much extra money as possible. I have more Disney figurines like this, but they’re either not in good selling condition and/or too sentimentally precious. Alice has no feet, Esmerelda has missing one foot…and Eric holding Ariel and Flic are perfectly in tact but I love them all too much.

Perhaps I would have never considered selling them if Lion King 2 was just better…so many things were wrong with it…but perhaps I shall save those details for another day. But, one thing I must tell you now, so you don’t hate me too much for selling these two adorable lions:

Kovu, while sexy like Simba, is an idiot.

Okay, without explaining the entire movie, you just need to know this. Like I mentioned before, Kovu is from the rival group of lions that are not part of Pride Rock. They’re scruffy and roughed-up looking, and they happen to worship Scar as a cult-leader. Even though Kovu looks like Scar, I don’t think he is supposed to be Scar’s son. His mother, at least I think I recall her being his mother, has two other children; one girl voiced by Gretchen Weiners and one older screw-up, scraggly brother voiced by Andy Dick. I personally believe that this mother, Zira, made some evil, twisted love with Scar and this resulted in Nuka, the pathetic older brother who looks just like Scar, but then some years later she found another lion (after Scar’s death?) and had two cubs with him.

This better sums up Nuka, who actually has the best parts in the movie because he is hilarious and deranged:

All of the stems of lineage are never explained, but I assume that my theories are correct because Kovu is the love interest here, in love with Simba’s daughter…so they can’t be cousins…yes, I know, Nala is most likely Simba’s sister but I hold onto the notion that she’s not, that her father was a hit it and quit it kind of guy and that’s why you don’t see him within Pride Rock and therefore there is no incest going on here. It’s also possible that Zira just took in Kovu at some point because they kept saying he was “hand-chosen” by Scar…yes, that could mean he’s his son too, but I really don’t think so. Did Zira just steal a promising looking little cub for this crazy cult?! Maybe?! I don’t know, it doesn’t matter…what was I talking about again?!

Oh yeah! So, this cult of Scar wants to take over Pride Rock in Scar’s name (because they’re weird and crazy) but in order to infiltrate the kingdom, they get Kovu to be all buff and handsome and woo Kiara, and I believe this plot involves killing her and/or Simba but I don’t remember how. Whatever, you just need to know that Kovu is supposed to be tricking Kiara. But of course, he ends up genuinely falling in love with her because she is just too damn awesome; her peachy color, her independence, the fact that her parents are both gorgeous and therefore she is.

Guys, here’s why Kovu is so dumb.

So, Kovu and Kiara are having their own “Can You Feel the Love Tonight” kind of sequence and then we find them chilling in the grass, just like Simba did with Timon and Pumba (I don’t know, they were just trying to tie in everything they possibly could from the first one?) and Kiara is explaining to Kovu about how the “great kings of the past” are up in the sky.

Kovu says “you think Scar’s up there?”

Um, no, you moron…you’re supposed to be tricking this girl into thinking you want to be part of their pride, she can’t know that you’re actually one of the Scar cult members!!! Real smooth, man.

I mean, obviously it all works out in the end…I just can’t get over how he perfectly fails at the one thing he was supposed to do.

Oh, Lion King, how I love you, despite your stupid sequel. There is also a new show on Disney Channel called The Lion Guard, and that is supposed to be about Simba and Nala’s son. Is Kiara there somewhere? With her idiotic but cute lion husband Kovu? I don’t know…I want them to be there, though. I just find Kiara to be so darling. But, I want to watch the show regardless, because Rob Lowe is the voice of Simba. Rob Lowe is my number-one favorite living actor and him voicing the beautiful lion Simba is a fantasy I never even knew I had being fulfilled.

I don’t know if I can handle it.

But guys, we can’t forget the most seductive character in Lion King….

I know. We’ll never be even 1/10th as sexy as this animated lioness is. You go, Nala.

While I do admit I am not an expert on modern music,  the good stuff finds that’s hiding out there finds me and I cherish it. Unfortunately, I hear more of the crappy stuff; at work, we have a mandated radio station that plays the same horrible crap over and over again. Occasionally there’s some good songs in there, but there are too many I can’t stand mixed in there to feel any kind of relief anyway. So, I consider myself more aware of modern music that I don’t like; I won’t always be able to tell you the artist, but I will always know whether I like it or whether it proves the decline in music quality that’s been happening the past few decades.

Disclaimer: I don’t like rap at all. Maybe a few songs here and there, but overall, I don’t care for it. If you like it, cool. The people I know who do like it are attracted to the rhythm and clever lyrics, and I can absolutely respect that. They guy I’m about to mention does not fall in that category.

I’m talking about you, Tyga.

Evidently, Sir Paul McCartney, beautiful Beatles legend (in case you didn’t know), was attempting to attend a post-Grammy’s party the other night and was denied access. To where? To Tyga’s party. Yes; you’re certainly not alone if this all makes you cringe.

First of all…Tyga, you clearly have no respect for actual talent. It must be hard for modern folk like yourself to understand that once there was a time when artists wrote their own music, sang their own poetry, and even, oh my God- played their own instruments. I know, this must be hard to fathom, for someone who does songs titled such vulgar and tasteless things like “bouncin’ on my dick” and then just plain stupid songs like “rack city”. Sadly, I know that one because occasionally my boyfriend blasts it in the car when he drives. To deliberately anger me? Who knows. (Probably.)

Yes, make no mistakes, the Beatles weren’t all innocent either. But they just did it better. Paul sang on the White Album about…doing things in the road. But its’ subtlety alone makes it waaaaaay more sophisticated; “no one will be watching us, why don’t we do it in the road”.

But, truthfully…I’m more offended by the fact that Sir Paul McCartney would even want to go to Tyga’s party…

UNLESS….

Unless, he thought he was going to Tigger’s party.

IT ALL MAKES SENSE NOW!!! I wouldn’t want to miss out on this guy’s party, either, Sir Paul!!

Also, it was literally JUST brought to my attention that people are claiming it was not Tyga’s fault, but rather that of…his bouncer? Still a poor excuse. Hire cooler, properly cultured people to handle your stuff, man.

Guys, I know Valentine’s Day can sometimes be obnoxious…people showing off their flowers, chocolates, fancy jewelry, reminding you that they have a significant other, etc. Despite those people who are all up in your face with their romance, I could never hate this holiday. Sure, I’ve had a bad one before; it was the week of a break-up, but I went out and had pizza with my family. Bitter and dressed in all black, but hey…sometimes it’s fun to be a bit dramatic. The important thing was, I had my family to spend the day with. Valentine’s isn’t always about the romance; it’s truly about being with and appreciating all of the people you love. But anyway… even when I was a child, I’ve always loved Valentine’s Day. Of course, that might be because the Disney Store always had the cutest stuffed animals and other products especially for this holiday; back in my youth, I had a plush of Lady (from Lady and the Tramp) that was entirely light pink. Perhaps it sounds weird, but it was so darling and cute. I wish I still had it. I also had a little Oddball from 102 Dalmatians with hearts instead of spots. I also have a little heart-spotted Dalmatian figurine that holds a heart basket; I keep make-up stuff in that, just like my fancy Ariel & Eric mug.

Look how freaking cute that is!

So, in addition to loving things that these cutesy Valentine’s things that are pink, red, and have hearts all over them, I love silly little Valentine’s things in general. My boyfriend gave me a beautiful ring, but I’m not going to be a show-off…unless you really want to see it…but anyway! I do love flowers, but this year, I got something substantially better:

That’s right; my man got me a bouquet of R2 units!! Some R2-D2’s, and I can’t remember the numbers for the others in there but does it matter?! Look at adorable that is!!

And yes, he got me a Darth Vader Valentine to match, of course! I love it all.

Right now I’m just debating whether I leave the R2 bouquet like that or take it apart and put R2’s all around! My parents were like “unlike flowers, these will last forever,”. This is true, but I also kinda wanna cuddle these little guys.

The ring, my Vader Valentine, and R2 bouquet are undoubtedly the best presents I have ever received for Valentine’s Day.

Peace and love to everyone!!

In honor of the most recent holiday, Valentine’s Day, I present to you just one of my beautiful couples mugs….and yes, this one is from the Disney Store again…

It’s a very stylized version of Ariel and Eric, my favorite princess and my favorite prince!! I believe it was from the “Fairytale Collection”, which featured other classic couples in new styles on not just mugs, but also notebooks, t-shirts, and really fancy dolls. Naturally, I chose the mug. As you can see, this doesn’t have coffee in it…it’s too fancy to actually use. I found another purpose for it; it holds my make-up. I only use a few of those, but I haven’t gotten rid of the eyeliners I have tried and didn’t like…so, I’ll keep them until I realize I should just throw them out.

Either if you know me or if you’ve been reading my posts, you can probably gather that I don’t listen to a lot of modern music. Part of this is because I already have such a glorious music collection from the 1950’s to the 1990’s that there is little I need to add. But that doesn’t mean I don’t like any modern music at all, I just don’t know as much because I don’t listen to those radio stations. I only get new music from new movies, sometimes work, a suggestion from friends or family- that’s pretty much it. I still love finding new music, but honestly what’s more thrilling for me at times is when I discover something previously unknown to me by somebody I already admire.

Almost a few years ago now, I was really quite depressed. One of the things that helped me get through it (aside from therapy and whatnot) was the Who. I remember one night I was at Barnes and Noble and I found Pete Townshend’s autobiography, Who I Am, and I decided the read the first few pages. In doing so, I was helplessly drawn to it and I knew I needed it. I immediately bought it and was immediately hooked. The first night I had it home, I was up until about 3am because I simply couldn’t stop reading it. I fell in love with Pete. I honestly feel like that was healthy for me at the time, as silly as that sounds. But anyway, he talked a lot about the albums, the process of making them and writing the songs for them. I felt like I was missing something, not actually knowing the albums he was talking about, so I ordered three of them to start with online, listened to them all in one night, and was in love with all of them. Right now, I’m just going to focus on one of them, my favorite of the trio I had ordered: The Who Sell Out.

Yes, Pete is holding a giant stick of deodorant, Roger is in a tub of baked beans, and on the back you’ll find Keith with an acne cream (also giant), and John in a leopard Flinstones/Tarzan-ish dress thing, advertising the power of his muscles.

It’s a commercial themed album and it’s amazing, clever, and hilarious at times. At the very beginning and in between some songs, you’ll hear brief commercial-like jingles and women singing announcements as if you’re listening to a radio station live every time you listen to the album. I love it so much; I love listening to this CD in my car because I feel like it’s my own private little Who radio station and I’m back in time in the 60’s.

But they don’t stop at the little things, like singing about Coca-Cola and cars in between full tracks. Many of the full songs themselves are an advertisement; Pete sings a lovely little song called Odorono but it’s only at the end you realize it’s about deodorant.

I love every single song on here, but here are my highlights:

• Odorono-Like I mentioned before, you don’t know until the very end that this whole story of a young budding actress is actually just to advertise deodorant. Also, it’s sung by Pete. I love his angel voice. And it’s one of the many times Pete has used “glittering” as an adjective. Actually…let’s just pause this focus on The Who Sell Out for a moment. I want to show you that I’m right and Pete just loves the word “glittering”.

• Tattoo- the simple story of two brothers trying to be more manly. I have quoted this song in a previous blog post talking about a BB-8 illustration I was drawn to due to its’ tattoo style.
• I Can’t Reach You- love is difficult. My favorite lyrics from this song are “our fingertips touched and then my mind tore us apart”
• Relax- it’s fun and trippy, and I love the sound of all of them singing together. And of course, my Pete
• Someone’s Coming- for all the youngins out there who have parents that don’t approve of their boyfriends or girlfriends; “your father doesn’t like me, told you that you couldn’t see me anymore, that’s why we meet in secret, that’s why we’re hiding here…you say you’ll take the dog out, then you sneak out here to me”
• Jaguar- there’s actually not a lot of lyrics in this, it’s mostly just an awesome instrumental song and then all of a sudden they sing “jaguar” at the end. I love the subtle commercialism they throw in there. It’s also a jab at how they had to do similar things for real at the time.
• Early Morning Cold Taxi- I don’t know what I like about this one in particular. “3:36, it’s cold. I know I’m growing old”. I just like it. It’s at the end of this one that they sing about Coca-Cola. Does it have to do with the song at all? Nope. It’s just a commercial in between but done so much cooler.
• Hall of The Mountain King- this is actually a very famous instrumental…I can’t think of where it’s normally used but I guarantee you’ve heard it before. But not like this. Their version is so fantastic. I get so excited when it comes on…just fantastically done and they even have their own goofy noises going on in the background. They also simply sing “ah” much of the time, and it’s lovely. But overall it’s just spectacular, I can’t stress it enough.
• Girl’s Eyes- the song is alright, I mostly just like these lyrics: “Each time you play a melody, it means the Earth to this little girl”. Are they singing about me?! I think so.

Until next time…

Peace and Love