6/24 Friday Friendzone: Summer Edition

Welcome back to the Friendzone, the most must-read segment on this blog!  This week marked the first official week of summer...so I got some of my friends together to ask them about what they think of summer.


1. Is summer the best season?
Scottyi: I feel pretty bad for those spoiled people who can't appreciate all 4 seasons... it means that they're depressed for 3/6/9 months out of the year. I love the breeze in autumn, the harsh fury of winter snowstorms, the beautiful week of tree blossoms in spring, and the warm rain of summer. It's all special and we must thank our Creator for every precious moment of His glorious creation. Also, I like summer because I look awesome in wife beaters.
Angrygirl: Duh. Watermelon, peaches, nectarines, pineapple, strawberries all in season. On the East Coast, people naturally gravitate outside and become social, hanging out at free events or farmers' markets. On the West Coast, it's the best time to go to the beach or jump in a friend's pool. And on a certain day in the summer I also get cake and candles.
(Y)MC: Summer is sometimes the best season, except when the weather gets to be too hot to wear even just shorts and a thin t-shirt. But I'll take summer over snow...any day!
Lily: Nope and I've never understood why so many people like it. It's the worst because you have to work a summer job and it's really hot.  Doing homework is more fun than entry-level jobs, and way more of your friends are around during the school year.  Also the sun hates people because it glares at them with its burning eye like Sauron.
Joses: Caveat - I grew up in the tropics, which is either summer all year long, or no summer at all, depending on the way you see things. I personally have an affinity for winter. There's something bracing about the cold and the dark that gets me more pensive (and intellectually more productive) than the summer. In my experience, the freedom offered by summer fools me into thinking I can get more done in those months - more reading, more thinking, more partying, more shopping etc. That's just not true.

2. What is the best summer song of all time?
Scottyi: 90s West Coast rap songs--windows down, subwoofer turned all the way up. Feeling so pimp. If you want something low key, Dr. Dre's "Nuthin' But a 'G' Thang" is perfect for driving down the road at sunset. Coolio's "Fantastic Voyage" hits the sweet spot when you're on your way to a party.
Angrygirl: Surfaris -- Wipeout
(Y)MC: Two great summer songs: Bananarama - Cruel Summer and DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince - Summertime. I would've included that LFO song about Chinese food and Abercrombie. But since you (Miller) alluded to it in an earlier post, I don't want to take anything away from your credibility as a blogger and diminish your earnings from blogging.
Lily: Is this like, music you listen to on the radio?  I don't know any summer songs but recently I've been feeling the soundtrack to Wicked...
Joses: Two songs come to mind (It's summer, I'm allowed two instead of just one tune.)
Summer of '69 - Bryan Adams: Why does summer inevitably equate to long-lost youth, first loves, and (ultimately) sheer happiness? It's thanks to the perfect piece of rock Bryan Adams composed in the 80s. Ironically, this song makes us nostalgic not for the late 60s, but for the 80s.
Stereo Love - Vika Jigulina and Edward Maya: This track wafts over the shore like a warm sea breeze, caressing your hair as you snooze again on the deck chair. Ed and Vika have bottled summer up in here.

3. What is the most must-see movie of the summer?
Scottyi: I hated the first two Fast & Furious movies, but ever since Justin Lin took it over it's become cinematic brilliance. "Fast 5" was the best entry in the series, which is probably the first time you could say that about a part 5. The cool thing about the franchise is that it's both retrogressive and progressive: retro because it harkens back to the old school action movies of musclebound machismo with codes of honor, but progressive because these movies are "post-racial." The cast is culturally diverse, and while enemies are often from different ethnic backgrounds, no one ever succumbs to racial slurs. Out of the entire 10-man crew in "Fast 5," Paul Walker is the only white guy...! That's amazing.
Angrygirl: Duh. HARRY POTTER LAST MOVIE EVER :((((((
or, Glee Live! 3D! (yes those exclamations are part of the title). Just kidding, Glee sucks and jumped the shark a long time ago.
(Y)MC: Summer blockbusters... My favorites are "I Know What You Did Last Summer" (1997), "I Still Know What You Did Last Summer" (1998), "I'll Always Know What You Did Last Summer" (2006, straight to video release), and the forthcoming "I'll Always Forever and Ever Know What You Did Last Summer as well as What You'll Do Next Summer" (2012?).
Lily: HARRY FRICKIN POTTER
Joses: I'll give four answers to the four different ways you can read this question.
a. Best movie to be ever released in the summer blockbuster season - Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight.
b. Best movie released in this current summer blockbuster season - Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part II. It's the end of an era.
c. Best movie about summer - A close friend of mine recommends Across The Universe.
d. Best movie(s) to watch during summer - Lord of The Rings Extended Trilogy. When else are you gonna find the time?!

4. Do you think tanning enhances or depreciates physical appearance?
Scottyi: I'm not attracted to the tanned look. It looks like girls are trying too hard. And then there's the tanning that goes so overboard that their skin literally looks orange--they look like giant oompa-loompas. Gross, ladies. Have fun with your skin cancer.
Angrygirl: My mom brainwashed me to forever associate tanning with skin cancer. I might've thought she was overreacting if it hadn't been for the teen girly magazines that also said similar things with scary sounding words like "melanoma." As a result I apply sunscreen regularly (although I tend to forget my arms, so my arms are perpetually darker than my face). Now the choice is between being tan/possibly-seriously-sick vs. pale/looking-sickly. It's a tough life.
(Y)MC: Tanning never made sense to me. Yes, you end up looking darker... but at the expense of increasing your risk of getting skin cancer/melanoma? Completely not worth it. You can do your future generation(s) a huge favor though by combining your genes with those of a person with a darker skin complexion, e.g. Asians, Africans, Hispanic/Herspanic people, etc. (White person, please note.)
Lily: I wish we were back in the 1800s when not tanned skin was more in!  It's so much healthier for people not to tan!
Joses: I think most people would agree having a tan, that wasn't obtained through tanning lotion or lying in front of light bulbs, is physically attractive. But you have to balance that with the risk of skin cancer. So the best way to get a tan is through hereditary means - have a mother and a father who both have naturally darker skin. Which, unfortunately, is beyond your means now.....

5. Summer Fling: Good or Bad Idea?
Scottyi: Summer's the best time to set up really great date ideas (campfire, walks on the beach, lying on your roof staring at the stars). But it's also the time when people are in very fragile transitional periods--people are getting ready to move, or on vacation, or on temp jobs. So if you're looking for something long-term while you're in a temporary situation, that seems like a recipe for disaster to me.  Best to have a "Roman Holiday" mentality: enjoy the time for what it is, but don't let your expectations get the better of you.
Angrygirl: Fling schmling. Relationships shouldn't be seasonal.
(Y)MC: As a rule of thumb, summer flings are always, always, always good ideas as long as nobody gets pregnant. And who knows, sometimes summer flings can turn into lasting and meaningful relationships that may or may not include pregnancy along the way.
Lily: Been there, done that.  Mixed feelings, but I did learn a lot.
Joses: Yes, It's time for another Good Idea/Bad Idea!
This question gets most people hot and bothered, because of the word "fling". If someone asked you, "Is a Summer Romance/Courtship a good idea?", of course you'd say "Yes!" So, the real question is, are flings a good idea at all? This is a question that merits more attention than I can give it now. Suffice to say, if you're OK with having a fling at all (whatever a fling might mean to you), then there's nothing wrong with a Summer Fling.
No one talks about a Winter Fling. Isn't it a better idea? What better way to pass the dark and cold than in someone else's warm arms? And you can dump them after they've put on all that Christmas fat.

About the Panelists:
Scottyi is excited because he just took his wife beater out of the drier. His website is www.sacredraisincakes.com / Angrygirl becomes less angry after hanging out on the beach. / (Y)MC is a son, brother, and husband. During his spare time, he enjoys long walks on the beach, authentic Taiwanese food, and streaming movies online. He believes almost all heterosexual inter-racial relationships are severely skewed, favor the white man, and consequently further disenfranchise the Asian male demographic group. As such, he has embarked on a personal mission to restore the balance in the world of inter-racial love-making. / Lily is an INTJ who prefers the library to every other building on campus.  I like puzzles, classical music, and chess.  My favorite thing to do online is stalk people on facebook and fill out my google calendar. / Joses grew up in Singapore, where it's pretty much summer all year round. Kinda boring, if you ask him. He tweets regularly at www.twitter.com/jacuzzijo.