What do you want to do before you die?

Derrick Hawkins, Alestle Photographer

by Derrick Hawkins, Alestle Photographer

It’s a simple question but, its not that easy to answer.  Despite from the entire semi-scripted reality  MTV spews out at us, the network still has some shows that stick to the good ol’ boy days.

“The Buried Life” is one MTV show that isn’t about sleeping around and getting drunk. The premise is simple: a group of guys travel the country with a list of 100 things they want to do before they die. They also help one stranger with one the thing they would like to do before they die. Some tasks on the list are: delivering a baby, learning how to krump, playing basketball with Obama, and the ultimate one, I think, is going to outer space.

The show got me thinking what do I want to do before I die? I would love to see all the wonders of the world, hang out with Obama and of course, go to space, and a lot more. The show really demonstrates how anything is possible just by simply asking some one to help. You never think total stranger will help someone out nowadays, but as humans, we need to help people no matter what, its like our instinct.

If you haven’t seen the show, you must. It will start to make you think about others and your life’s list.

So, what do you want to do before you die?

Check out the full “Buried Life” list here.

MTV sure isn’t what it used to be

Derrick Hawkins

by Derrick Hawkins, Alestle photographer

Everyone knows about MTV now, but most people don’t know how much it has changed.

In 1981 an idea came to television about a network that only played music. It was going to be radio brought to life. At the time, MTV wanted to target the youth and the new music of the time.

But over the years, MTV has lost its core idea to spoiled teenagers, and wannabe A-Listers. Reality TV has become a bacteria that spreads on TV networks, and MTV jumped on the board. Granted, MTV was probably the first network to start the trend with shows like ‘The Real World” “Road Rules” and “Singled Out,” but now it’s a little out of control. MTV rarely plays music videos. The last good music video program the network had was “Total Request Live,” which only played about 20 seconds of a video, but it was a video.

MTV used to be the place where music artists wanted to get their big break. MTV is single-handedly responsible for great music icons like Madonna, Duran Duran ,and the biggest pop icon ever,  the late Michael Jackson. But now all you see are rich girls on  shows like “The Hills”  and “The City,” having drama over what Gucci purse to go along with their Prada stilettos and where to eat sushi at.

Everyone wants that 15 minutes. I know I would love it, but  MTV lost its core values of what their own name means, “music television.” MTV needs get rid off some of the scripted reality shows and bring back the music video.

Kanye West’s outbursts can have serious consequences

by Sean Roberts, Alestle photographer

Sean Roberts

Yo, Kanye, I’m gonna let you finish but Michael Jackson was one of the worst addicts of all time!

After his outburst at the MTV Video Music Awards, rapper Kanye West’s personality has come into the limelight—a very negative light. What he did was unacceptable- regardless of Taylor Swift’s singing abilities.

However, according to the New York Post , West may have been drinking before the show, and photos surfaced of him on the red carpet with a bottle of alcohol in his hand.  It’s not the first time he’s been accused of drunken outbursts. According to MTV News, he had another disturbance in 2006 about not winning best video for his song, “Touch the Sky”. He claimed to have had a “little sippy sippy” before the event.

One has to wonder how much alcohol played a part in all of his outbursts. I would wager that it’s at least likely that alcohol played a large part in some of his outbursts. He even admits it.

Could Kanye be dependent on alcohol, or does he just like to have a too much of a good time? Alcohol abuse occurs when someone consumes alcohol despite knowing continued consumption can cause significant problems. West continues to drink, presumably heavily, even after him crashing an award show in 2006.

Society always looks the other way when a celebrity has a serious addiction—that is, until he or she die. We all turned away from Michael Jackson and his problems until he died—the his doctor charged with his death.

Before West becomes another celebrity who goes before his time, he should seek treatment for whatever is causing these outbursts, before things get much more serious.