The bling's the thing . . . to stop saying!

Unless you're part of the Cash Money Click and you're performing the song "Bling Bling," the word "bling" should not be in your vocabulary anymore.

Unless you're Slick Rick, the original king of bling before the term was invented, the word "bling" should not be in your vocabulary anymore.

Back in 1999 when B.G. hit it big with the song "Bling Bling," the world fell in love with using it to describe wearing diamonds and other shiny jewels.

It set off a chain reaction that hasn't stopped yet. It has only slowed down a smidge when "bling bling" took up too much time to say and was shortened to "bling."

Every award show on TV, every red carpet rolled out anywhere, there are stars iced out. That's fine. It's the excessive use of the word "bling" that's the problem.

When that word trickles down to use in a headline for a feature story about children, you know something is wrong. And then when the word appears in a caption describing a Chicago Bears fan loaded in plastic necklaces and other cheap team gear at Super Bowl XLI, you know something is really wrong.

So, "bling" is now officially Stricken from the Record here at Star Struck. We'll never mention the word again. It's got no more use for us, sort of like Sam Tipton after being questioned by Joe Pesci in "My Cousin Vinny."

Indeed, that five-letter word is now a four-letter word, and sits in the Hall of No More Fame, right next to a woman who is no stranger to this word.

Let the people wear it all they want. That's not a problem. Rock your ice. Keep your wrist frostbit, minus two degrees, just like Jay-Z says. Just don't use that other word.

Posted by Mark La Monica at 4:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Can we please bring an end to Foxy Brown as a celebrity and/or noteworthy person worth reporting on or photographing?

The once-a-rapper-but-now-a-joke Brown was sentenced Tuesday to three years' probation for her involvement in a fight with two nail salon employees. This assault case dragged on for more than two years, or roughly one year longer than her status as a marketable rapper.

Brown peaked with her hook and verse on "Ain't No -----," the single that launched Jay-Z's career in the mid-1990s. She had a few other decent songs, such as "Hot Spot," "I'll Be" with help from Jay-Z and "Gotta Get You Home" with help from Blackstreet. But, after producing minimal music worth listening to in the past five years, it's time to stop caring about Foxy Brown.

Here at Star Struck, Foxy Brown earns the honor of being the inaugural inductee into our "Stricken from the Record" Hall of No More Fame.

Being "Stricken from the Record" means we here at Star Struck no longer give a hoot about you. You're done. Finito. Fredo. When these celebs are going to do something, we want to know a day in advance so we can alter our Googling. (We'd say "Dead to Me" as well, but Stephen Colbert already cornered that market.)

In a pathetic attempt to remain relevant in the public eye, Brown, real name: Inga Marchand, spent two years legally fighting about a fight in a nail salon. That eye is now closed.

Even in her crime spree, she couldn't outdo Lil' Kim, who actually served time for lying about some gunplay outside Shot 97's offices in Manhattan. Remember those conversations you had back in the late 1990s about who was hotter or who was a better rapper, Lil' Kim or Foxy Brown? Lil' Kim wins.

The Ill Na Na is just plain ill now. And in 2006 lingo, that doesn't mean good.

Posted by Mark La Monica at 10:19 AM | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBacks (0)