When it Hurts You’re Doing it Right

TOMS Shoes has grown an incredible amount since this time last year and today 250,000 people participated in One Day Without Shoes. It is truly amazing to know that this movement is growing and impacting impoverished children on an even greater level. TOMS’ popularity is expanding far beyond any of our expectations and it is a good feeling to have been a part of something from the beginning; when our support was most important.

I spent the day with about a dozen of my closest and most amazing friends and we walked a mile barefoot. My feet are blistered and it hurts to walk. As it should on One Day Without Shoes.

Mimi

I Want You to Take the Walk

ONE TREE HILL

Three notes into OTH and we knew this would be a high-school-reminiscent episode. Bring on the cliche, powdered-sugar melodrama.

The girls proceed to inform us that they are staffing (?) an ’80s-inspired dance. What an original idea! That has never been done before; in the history of TV shows or high schools!

When Alex asked Julian who his favorite director was, he phoned in the line of, “John Hughes,” and ranted on about how his movies were more than stereotypes and atypical teen drama. It was almost as bad as that half-hearted tribute on the Critics’ Choice Awards.

Cheap Trick performed for a squad of clueless extras at aforementioned ’80s-dance; 3 songs; kicking it off with their one and only hit. Bun E., the namesake of my two-person Bun E. fan club, wore a Hanson Walk thermal! Up top, Bun E.!

Here’s one last question: Why are all these twenty-somethings so magnetically-drawn to the high school dance? Are they that drastically small-town that chaperoning teenagers and breaking into their old high school lockers sounds ideal? As viewers, are we supposed to not think this is pathetic?

Mimi

A New Ginger, Minus the Island

To begin on a serious note, here’s to a monumental World AIDS Day! A lot of positive efforts have already been made; a lot is left to do. But the more that is done to end poverty and AIDS, the easier “we can conquer this Great Divide.”

One Tree Hill

This week, Skills broke the news to Jamie that he was leaving and Jamie didn’t take it too well.

“Just ’cause I’ll be in LA doesn’t mean we won’t see each other.” He reassured the grumpy, stunted 6-year-old.

“Like I see Uncle Lucas?” Jamie responded sarcastically. Are you getting written off the show, Skills? Or have you just decided you’re too good for us too?

Mouth finally got fed up with Millie using and abusing everyone in the process and, after being told he had been killed, agreed to move to LA with Skills. Oh, Jamie’s really gonna be fired up now! Getting the hell outta Tree Hill to find where Chad and Hilarie went must sound like a good idea.

Brooke was mad at Julian (again) and Alex told Julian she loved him (again) and that she was more…fruitful than Brooke could be. He told her he didn’t even like her and she called him in desperation (again) before possibly killing herself. Actresses.

As far as music went, Trent Dabbs and Amy Stroup left as wondering, “Pete and Scarlett who?”

Gossip Girl

Everything was out on the table at the Humphrey-Bass-Van der Woodsen’s Thanksgiving dinner…whether every scandal was interesting or not. Vanessa’s mom audibly judged all of them, Tripp’s wife addressed the affair and Lily’s mom kept her secret, while Jenny and Eric moved their petty catfight to a separate room. Surprisingly quietest of all the guests – Chuck Bass (of “Dude. I’m Chuck Bass.”) Where has his gusto gone?

And if the night just wasn’t darling enough, throw in an idiotic coat mixup. Can’t forget that! Maybe Tripp was actually leaving his wife because of her 20-years-aged wardrobe.

As the show wound down, the softest track from the worn-out Brand New Eyes – The Only Exception- played even softer in the background. If only Paramore had a dime for every time their music was featured in teen dramas…but they probably do. 

By the final Poor Serena scene, I think more than a few of us were gagging. Serena Van der Woodsen has been in fake love many, many times and made one poor decision after another by letting her lips lead the way. This extreme has finally made her the least relatable and most easily hatable TV character since Ginger from Gilligan’s Island. Both girls are/were emotionally stranded and isolated in their own self-absorption. But isn’t that reason enough to love them?

Mimi

Taking The Walk

Last week, for the 2nd time (3rd time walking) I took the walk with Hanson and stayed all day and all night for the show. Now, for the full diehard Hanson fan experience I showed up at 10 AM and camped out in the rat-infested back alley behind the venue with twenty or so other dedicated fans. We shared lollipops and past stories. The walk was at 3 PM as always. Taking the walk is basically taking your shoes off and following the megaphone-wielding members of Hanson on a one-mile walk with a discussion at the halfway point and returning to the venue. There is no security so everyone brings their cameras and phones and gets to talk, up close and personal, with the band. Yes, this may be intimate but we all share a cause and it fits us as a group. A lot of fans, including myself, have bought TOMS shoes. Whenever you buy a pair of TOMS shoes another pair goes to a needy child in Africa. The main question last year was “can you even imagine not owning something as simple as a pair of shoes?” and this year the message is spreading the word by arranging your own walks. This is a little part of spreading the word. We are working to build a well and school in South Africa and providing access and treatment to those in Africa with HIV/AIDS. Children should not die from a disease their mother was carrying before they were born.

Hundreds of Hanson fans take the walk in each city along the tour and although we are making a difference and “doing our part” (your part can never truly be done) we would appreciate any and all help.

So whoever is reading this and has never heard of it before check out www.takethewalk.net, www.Hanson.net, www.tomsshoes.com, www.ihavehope.net, or www.ifindhope.net. Learn how to do your part.

Whoever is reading this and has heard of it or has taken the walk, feel free to leave a comment and represent.

Among the band and the fans, members of the opener band Everybody Else were walking. They seemed like good guys, psyched about the cause, but I figured their performance later that night would be ehh to even out their personalities. They were awesome. Some of the catchiest music I’ve heard in a long time; like In Memoriam, Meat Market, and Makeup to name a few.

So, yes, my Hanson day was 14 hours long but if you don’t understand, you’re not about to either. It’s just the way we roll. I met some great people, had a great time (it was an incredibly fantastic show – thanks for playing DITW!), and am really looking forward to walking again by the end of the month.

Sorry if this isn’t what you were expecting from my blog. I know it’s a different mood and not all jokey and cynical but this means a great deal to a lot of us and I figured it was about time I spoke up.

Take the walk. Spread awareness. Make a difference. Change someone else’s life!!!

I’m leaping off my soapbox now.

Mimi