lessons from the subway series

I like my baseball. And I love competition. I make it a point every year to get to at least one Yankee game, but right now I'm not that excited by the new stadium. Nonetheless, I get all hype when we play our major rivals...I've seen us play (and beat) Boston a few times, but I have never seen a Subway Series. So this year, a crew of us went to check out CitiField for the first time to catch some Yankees vs. Mets action. 3 Yankees fans, 2 Mets fans, and my undecided homegirl in town from London who would going forward root for whoever won her first American baseball game.

Yanks lost 6-4. Whomp whomp. It was all in good fun, I lost my voice for the night, danced to the at-bat songs, ate greasy food and laughed a lot. However, this trip wasn't purely recreational, we learned a few lessons and made some important observations...

1. I'm gonna chalk this up to homefield advantage but the Mets fans were way cuter than the Yankees fans. So disappointing. We did not represent.
2. Even though it's wrong to chastise your team member in enemy territory, it is quite enjoyable to yell "earn your check" at A-Rod.
3. CitiField has much better food and spirits than Yankee Stadium. Shake Shack vs. Johnny Rockets...c'mon son. My greedy self stood on line for nearly an hour for that burger and fries. I was not alone. You can easily find beer other than Bud and Coors! They have margaritas, need I say more?
4. Derek Jeter is the man whereever he plays. So we didn't win the game (or the series) but he was part of that potentially game-tying 3-run rally in the 9th inning. That's my captain. Reliable. Holla.
5. Queen Helene must be selling a helluva lot of shea butter because she is a sponsor of CitiField.

6. There are a lot of adorable mixed couples...one Yankee fan, one Met fan. We wondered if they were gonna go home and have hot sex after the game. I get riled up over sports competitions, I'm just saying. Though I don't think it could ever work with a Red Sox fan...
7. A lot of women like baseball, we go to the games and want to wear our team's gear. But they don't make much for ladies except those stupid pink Yankees shirts and tanks. (rolls eyes) I usually end up buying boy's shirts, but can we get some baby tees or something? Women are a great endorsement for teams...men are always looking at us anyway...hello?
8. You often hear about the ghosts of Yankee Stadium who seem to come out of nowhere to help the Bombers freakishly win game they shouldn't. True or not, Shea Stadium (now CitiField) and the Mets have their own history of helpful juju, even before Bill Buckner experienced it firsthand:

9. New Yorkers kick ass. We talk mad shit, make fun of each other and maybe some pour beer on each other and get kicked out of the park, but at the end of the day, we can slap five in peace and ride the super-express Q train into the sunset happily ever after.

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Ladies Hit and Miss at the AMAs

In case you missed the American Music Awards (God/ddess for bid), here's pretty much what you need to see. Oh, and Taylor Swift beat out Michael Jackson for the "Artist of the Year." She was very humble about it, and was totally floored. As was the audience. Hey Kanye, Taylor thanks you!



HITS:



because you know how i feel about Shakira, and the song has a positive, inspirational message ("anything you want you can make it yours"), and the women dancing on stage and in the aisles are powerful! people say i'm biased b/c of my love for her, and i am, but it was jammin'. that's a serious workout too, trust. stepping may not be her forte and the lyrics are simple, but it doesn't have to be profound, it's entertainment. big up.







i loved Gaga's performance...she shines on stage, theatrics to the max and rawe emotion. she can sing and play music...she's a bit out there but she's badass. i didn't get all the hype until she performed Paparazzi at the VMAS; now I'm a believer. *kicks self for not getting tickets to her show at Radio City*







and the Queen Janet Jackson, doing a medley of joints from "Control," "Rhythm Nation," "Janet," and "the Velvet Rope" and executing her old signature moves beautifully. i feel lucky to have grown up with her.







MISSES:



damn Rihanna, you know i'm cheering for you. but i also know that you're a studio singer and you make hot radio and album cuts, and you are not really a performer. i've seen her do better but you know, i still rock out to her joints on the album. in the meantime though, singing lessons for Ri-Ri?







and a million sighs and shaken heads for this performance from Jennifer Lopez debuting her new song, "Louboutins." The dancing was eh, but can we move on from these songs about shoes, clothes, labels, bullshit? An entire song advertising some expensive ass shoes? I know it's entertainment as I stated earlier, but this is wack. The beat isn't even club-worthy. Don't you have something better to sing about? Anything? Maybe you could write a song? And as I'm sure you know she falls in this performance...which isn't what makes it bad (I actually cringe seeing it)...maybe she's just trying to hard. (take cues from Janet's performance) thanks.



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A.Keys, I dunno. I don't like to pigeonhole artists because people want to try different things and expand but I'm not feeling the dancing. 1) because it wasn't that good, and 2) because it's what Beyonce does, and Bey does it much better. And Alicia's vocals aren't that strong for her to be moving around that much. She's incredible behind the piano but tone down dancing, please. Or at least, try something original. (peep the floating piano too...i dunno)







FOR GOOD MEASURE:



Jay-Z isn't a lady as per the title of this post but with Alicia with him, it counts. The song of the moment-or last 3 months...especially if you're a Yankee fan (Holla!!!) and/or live in New York, and probably everywhere else. Unfortunately, I can't find a link that includes A-Rod introducing them. I love it...so appropriate on so many levels! A-Rod love to get his celebrity on, bless his heart. Alicia's intro is gorgeous, again Yankee fans can certainly appreciate it.

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Rumble in the Bronx

I haven't written much really since Morocco but my head is swimming with thoughts and things to process. They will make their way into something coherent in time. I've let a lot of "monuments" pass (i.e. Halloween, Dia de los Muertos/Santos, breast cancer month) and haven't shared information, covered newsworthy subjects, written any deep, original content. But that will come too. Instead I'm tweeting all the time. (As you can see to the right of your screen.) And I'm working on some changes sprucing up the site a bit. It's a process, bear with us.

In the meantime, we are in the midst of a World Series with the New York Yankees over the Philadelphia Phillies 3-2 and headed back to New York (to win). I am consumed. I forgot how delicious the post-season, particularly the World Series, feels to my spirit. Much love to the Twitter Yankee fam, especially the "ladies of the pinstripe," as we have gone through this nail-biting post-season together. I especially enjoy chatting with other female Yankee fans who know stuff about baseball, and about the hot bods of the players (or the newly-coined "MLB lust"). I think some men think women can't know both, or will automatically raise an eyebrow at a woman talking baseball. I've fortunately had no direct problems but I think some men are still surprised that women get so into sports, and actually know the details of the game and the players. We've disputed that bullshit. And I've been able to chat with many men who don't mention gender unless it's to big us up. Good times. Thanks Twitterverse.

With that said, Goddesses Rising is a pro-Yankee blog. Don't be mad, it ain't personal. I'm maybe a lil' competitive (lol) and baseball makes my inner child smile :) Let's Go Yankees!

be back soon...

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A-Rodonna Mania

I’m usually not a big tabloid gossip person but I’m obsessed with the A-Rod/Madonna alleged romance and his divorce from his wife, Cynthia. The Daily News has had them on the cover for the past week and I’ve read every word of their coverage. I was feeling really shallow for being so interested but 2 personally intriguing icons are hooking up…in my world, this is bigger than Jay and Beyonce, and Brangelina; even though A-Rodonna (as MSNBC coined it) is being steadfastly denied.

I’m a serious Yankee fan, though this year I haven’t been paying as much attention. The games have been painful to watch with all the injuries and players nowhere near their full potential. Nonetheless, I have been following the team seriously since right after high school and have kept A-Rod under my watchful eye since he came to the Yankees. Was he bad ju-ju for the team? What did this mean for Captain Derek (Jeter), my beloved shortstop? Or could he solidify the Yankee Dynasty for the next decade? All that aside, he rubbed me the wrong way when he was talking sh*t about Derek his boy who he came up with in the game. Anyway, being a Yankee and dealing with the New York frenzy has proved to be difficult for A-Rod. He’s had emotional meltdowns, hitting slumps, and various scandals involving strippers and other chicks. He also still doesn’t have the coveted World Series ring (Derek has 4) but he’s put up impressive numbers year after year; and is on track to smash home run records by the end of his career. So especially in NYC, where the media monitors his every move, A-Rod continues to confirm his status as an enigma underneath a calculated veneer.

Now let’s add Madonna to the equation. I don’t even have to go through a history of Madonna but she was my idol from about age 4 until 12ish. I had white fishnet gloves, and I begged my mom to get me a crinoline slip so I could be her for Halloween. I was 7 so the crinoline slip was a crinoline dress. But I’ve followed Madonna since then and have always admired her ability to reinvent herself; and thus she’s made successfully reinventing herself her calling card. It’s genius. She was a sexual pioneer, pushing the envelope for women to express their sexuality freely, meanwhile receiving intense media criticism and scrutiny; the Vatican even got involved (poor repressed Catholics). I went to see Madonna’s “Truth or Dare” for my 11th birthday with my girlfriends; she was it to me as a youngster.

When her “Sex” book and “Erotica” album were released, I was a tween and was finally convinced that Madonna was a slut. It was the proverbial last straw for me based on literally Fox 5’s news coverage (pre Fox News Channel days). I was at an influential age where I was picking up a lot of context clues about how women should be and our roles in society. The media pegged her as a whore and I didn’t really have the maturity to understand suppression of female sexuality, and I got the message. Being sexual=slut=bad thing. Nonetheless, I still thought she was cool and in command of her life, pushing boundaries and making things uncomfortable.

This “slut” label continues to plague her now as these accusations of her affair with A-Rod. I’m torn on this one, I kinda hope they were fucking because that would be some ill sexual energy that I would want to witness! Though she is looking a little frail these days. At the same time, I think A-Rod is wrong for consistently and flagrantly cheating on his wife for the whole world to see. Unless they have an arrangement and understanding that they can have other lovers, then it’s wrong to make Cynthia look foolish in the public eye like that. If you are gonna have indiscretions, be discreet, son! I can’t blame him for wanting to be with Madonna; nor can I blame Madonna’s 49 year old ass for getting with A-Rod’s young, strong, beefy body. Okay, lemme calm down. But damn, Alex, have a tiny bit of class and respect. We all know that you’re not remotely faithful to your wife, but fool us a little.

Back in late May/June of 2007, A-Rod had another scandal with a blonde stripper that he was seen with in Toronto, Boston, Las Vegas and other spots. It was reported that he was “the king of the strip clubs,” took strippers shopping, and was sending the ones in different cities X-rated text messages. Damn, dude is unleashing some energy and marriage is obviously not for him at this point. Now that I think about it, he’s coming out of his Saturn Return which brings about great changes in people. Anyway, the lesson to A-Rod here is to stop taking your hos out in the streets!



Lastly, when I heard that Cynthia was chillin’ with Lenny Kravitz; I was hype! I know the report is that Lenny is a family friend that is offering his home as a refuge from the press but I hope that Cynthia is getting with him (you better be). F*ck that, I’m keeping it real! He is a fine “friend” to have! She needs to get something out of all this public humiliation, and having his kids. It’s more than coincidental that she got pregnant right after the stripper scandal too. I’m just sayin’…

Now really lastly, A-Rod’s trainer has accused Madonna of brainwashing him with her kaballah practices. That takes this over the top and it’s clear that dude is just trying to get some shine. He has also said that A-Rod has been listening to a lot of Madonna before the games. What a funny visual? A-Rod getting his jock jam on to “Papa Don’t Preach.” But it also shows the ignorance of our culture to religions other than Christianity. Apparently, Madge is showing him the ways of kaballah and it’s changed his behavior. Maybe he is different. He allegedly wrote Madonna a note saying that she was his “true soulmate.” Ouch! But I have a hard time believing that Madonna is casting evils spell on him to make him cheat on his wife. I’m not saying she’s not magical but I believe she uses her powers for good :) And note Madonna’s marriage (though already rocky) has barely stumbled with this A-Rod debaucle.

This divorce is gonna get ugly. Madonna's name isn't even in the court documents so I'm sure there's some real dirt to be unearthed. She ain't going out as an official homewrecker. Damn, damn, damn. Cynthia is gonna go for the jugular.

So what’s the point here? This sh*t is intriguing to me because I generally do a lot of serious work and serious reading so it’s a pleasant repreive to be distracted by other people’s drama, particularly those that I’ve grown up with like A-Rod, or have influenced my growth like Madonna. It might be a publicity stunt but I am willingly suckered in. Too bad, it doesn’t make me wanna go buy the album, though I might cause it's Madonna off the strength and I really like "Confessions." Instead, it makes me self-reflect, and think about my ideal marriage situation and what is acceptable to me. I don’t ever want to get divorced so I’m figuring out how I can have what I want, and what it is I truly want, without completely compromising myself. Madonna, Cynthia, and A-Rod, I’m watching.

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