Destiny was once an innocent young girl tricked into selling her own body, but now she's as tough as the most seasoned professionals on her street. Then a tragic turn of events forces her to open her heart once again. When her pimp, Mack Jones, is shot, she stays behind during his recovery. After Mack has regained his strength, she decides to leave the life behind her and Mack is forced to make a decision. Will he stay with what he has always known - or take a chance at love?
In 2004, roughly 25 makeover-themed reality shows aired on U.S. television. By 2009, there were more than 250, from What Not to Wear and The Biggest Loser to Dog Whisperer and Pimp My Ride. In Makeover TV, Brenda R. Weber argues that whether depicting transformations of bodies, trucks, finances, relationships, kids, or homes, makeover shows posit a self achievable only in the transition from the “Before-body”—the overweight figure, the decrepit jalopy, the cluttered home—to the “After-body,” one filled with confidence, coded with celebrity, and imbued with a renewed faith in the powers of meritocracy. The rationales and tactics invoked to achieve the After-body vary widely, from the patriotic to the market-based, and from talk therapy to feminist empowerment. The genre is unified by its contradictions: to uncover your “true self,” you must be reinvented; to be empowered, you must surrender to experts; to be special, you must look and act like everyone else. Based on her analysis of more than 2,500 hours of makeover TV, Weber argues that the much-desired After-body speaks to and makes legible broader cultural narratives about selfhood, citizenship, celebrity, and Americanness. Although makeovers are directed at both male and female viewers, their gendered logic requires that feminized subjects submit to the controlling expertise wielded by authorities. The genre does not tolerate ambiguity. Conventional (middle-class, white, ethnically anonymous, heterosexual) femininity is the goal of makeovers for women. When subjects are male, makeovers often compensate for perceived challenges to masculine independence by offering men narrative options for resistance or control. Foregoing a binary model of power and subjugation, Weber provides an account of makeover television that is as appreciative as it is critical. She reveals the makeover show as a rich and complicated text that expresses cultural desires and fears through narratives of selfhood.
Drabalicious is a collection of 25 short stories that you can read anywhere anytime, on the tube, riding on a bus or even in a car... as long as you are not driving! Most of these fictional fables are under 350 words, yea I might have crammed some longer ones in there, but that is just to keep your attention span at its utmost prime. We start with the stories and then I will follow that with some of the reasoning behind what made such tales, some might not be what you first imagined them to be. With some of these stories, I have added some facts that I have found out along the way into doing some research for these small tales.
Dan Zevin, master of "Seinfeld-ian nothingness" (Time), is trying his best to make the transition from couplehood to familyhood. Acclimating to the adult-oriented lifestyle has never been his strong suit, and this slice-of-midlife story chronicles the whole hilarious journey--from instituting date night to joining Costco; from touring Disneyland to recovering from knee surgery; from losing ambition to gaining perspective. Where it's all heading is anyone's guess, but, for Dan, suburbia's calling--and his minivan has GPS. -- Jacket, p. [2].
""Wheels" attempts to push against the stereotypes of people with disabilities. Wheels, the main character, has a spirit that cannot de confined or defined by his disabilities. Instead he fights to show his independence. Some of those choices like skipping school or drinking and driving (his wheelchair) may not always be the best. But then he is human too. This short novel is one of the few that has a person with disabilities as the main character ... It breaches a wall to include people with disabilities into the community. ... brings us into the daily life of a kid in a wheelchair who just wants to be "normal" ... funny ... a real character ..."--Back cover
The thrust of the literature on consumer space and society focuses on product labeling, marketing techniques and approaches to branding, as well as how mass consumer culture has reshaped individuals' interaction with needs and desires. Globetrotting Shopaholics departs from this current discourse by examining both consumption venues and the cultural, political and social reasons why we consume. It elucidates international trends in consumption politics, and how they impact the creation of consumer spaces, which, in this book, takes the form of numerous global loci including Canada's West Edmonton Mall, Japanese theme parks, shopping venues in the Philippines, and expat boutiques in Budapest. Using a wide range of epistemological frameworks including cultural ethnography, historical analysis, literary theory, sociological dissection, anthropological examination, and philosophical ruminations, this collection conveys how material objects and lifestyles are accumulated and represented internationally, and how consumer goods and spaces define who we are as human beings.
Pop Goes the Decade: The 2000s comprehensively examines popular culture in the 2000s, placing the culture of the decade in historical context and showing how it not only reflected but also influenced its times. Pop Goes the Decade: The 2000s starts with a timeline of major historical pop culture events of the 2000s, followed by an introduction describing what the U.S. was like at the beginning of the new millennium and how it would change throughout the decade. Next come chapters broken down by medium: television, sports, music, movies, literature, technology, media, and fashion and art. A chapter on controversies in popular culture is followed by a chapter on game-changers, featuring 20 individuals who made a major impact on the U.S. in the 2000s. Finally, a conclusion shows the impact that pop culture in the 2000s has had on the U.S. in the years since. This volume serves as a comprehensive resource for high school and college students studying popular culture in the 2000s. It provides a summary of total impact, plus specific insights into each individual topic. It also includes a wide swath of the scholarship produced on the subject to date.
Twenty-four inch wheels, reinforced steel rims, chrome bumper and trims, hydraulic suspensions, lambo doors, reflective metallic paint, state-of-the-art sound system. Want to know more about pimping a ride? This official tie-in to the MTV show, Pimp My Ride UK, takes you behind-the-scenes to reveal everything you need to know and more to inspire you to transform your own car. And we're not just talking a paint job either - you'll find out how they souped up that exterior, tucked in those wheels, lowered that suspension, styled the interior, and installed a banging sound system. Pimp My Ride shows how the coolest accessories can turn a rusty pile of metal into the hottest ride on the street. Pimp your ride, UK style!
