GMU's Comm 399 students on pop, art, fashion, and more
This is every boy band’s groupie biggest dream come true! Backstreet Boys and New Kids on the Block just announced their tour a month ago on Oprah and they just expanded it nationwide. They made their debut at the Video Music Awards 2010 as the closing performance.
If your a fan of indie music and you want to get into the holiday spirit, Target is offering a free indie-rock Christmas album online. It’s a great listen, and you might discover some new indie bands!
Underoath is going on tour this winter with Thursday, Animals as Leaders and A Skylit Drive. Thursday is by no means metal, but on this tour they will be performing their album “Full Colapse” in its entirety. That alone is worth the price of admission. The tour hits 9:30 Club on Feb. 22.
Cracked.com recently published this article called “6 Animals that just don’t give a f***.”
Cracked is normally known for publishing funny, yet educational ‘top lists’ of things, and this animal list is one of the most creative ones I’ve seen in a while.
Back in January, LA Weekly did a feature on BJ Winslow who provides horror props for movies and tv. The feature was reported by the reporter, Gendy Alimurung, and it was done by going to Winslow’s shop and talking to him, his assistant Tristen and a customer that happens to be in the store.
The reporting is a mixture of observations about things that happened when the reporter was in the store and what the reporter overheard. The store is called The Dapper Cadaver. The research the reporter did, was to find out what movies has purchased/rented items from Winslows shop and that was probably about it. The rest came from interviewing Winslow.
I thought the reporter asked all the right questions. I learned where Winslow was from, a little about his home life, what the shop looks like, what he does. I was given in insight to his personality and to the kind of place that he runs. The article even includes prices for renting some of the item and some “horror” stories about him trying to aquire certain items.
The article opens with a snappy lead “When you absolutely, positively need that dead baby overnight, BJ Winslow is the man to see.”
The next paragraph goes on to describe Winslow. Then the article talked about the shop, has quote from Winslow about his business and what he does. Then goes on to tell about what shows/movies he has provided props for. Next it talks more about Winslow and where he is from and that he grew up next to a cemetary.Then more quotes and observations about the store and about the business. Then some stories about Winslow trying to aquire weird items for people in the movie biz. Funny stories and then it ends with a weird story about a customer who wanted a real human brain and Winslow trying to get one before being told that it “wasn’t going to happen.” Which was the kicker.
I know I always blog about The Hundreds, but this is genius. The Hundreds recently collaborated with the original writer / illustrator of Garfield on a whole new line of clothing as well as an accompanying exhibition in West L.A. with exclusive The Hundreds x Garfield artwork and cartoon strips.
LINK TO MORE INFO: www.thehundreds.com
Bob Sagat has had an interesting career, to say the least. While his career began to take off as the wholesome yet hilarious father on ‘Full House’ and the corny yet comedic host to ‘America’s Funniest Home Videos’, once those two shows had run their course, he turned to stand-up comedy and did a short run on HBO’s “The Aristocrats”. Viewers quickly noticed that unscripted (or at least with more free reign), Saget tends to have an interesting and somewhat filthy sense of humor. Given that he has shifted gears so drastically in the past, it’s no surprise that he has undertaken a new project in his professional career, a documentary-style television show aptly titled, ‘Strange Days With Bob Saget’
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Mike Hale, of the New York Times television section attempts to scrutinize Saget and his new show, which began airing yesterday, November 29, 2010. Hale did a decent job on this feature, using mainly Saget’s long history in television and his screenings of the new show to give a critique on Saget’s comedic style in this new series. It appears that he did not, however, interview Saget directly but rather, used quotes from within the show to make his copy more interesting. I feel as though the quotes from the show should have been more supplementary, and a quote from one of the show’s producers or Saget himself would have been more effective.
Likewise, I would have liked to know why Saget chose to do this show. It seems a bit desperate – sort of like ‘Dancing with the Stars’ or ‘Celebrity Rehab’, where B and C-list celebrities takes one last shot at restoring their claim to fame. But that’s just my opinion. If Hale had been given the chance, I would have loved to know the real deciding factor on why Saget thought this show would be a good idea – maybe it would give more insight into him as a person and where he currently is in his career path.
It appears, however, that he did do his research. Not only is Hale knowledgeable about Saget’s career, but moreover he has watched and critiqued episodes that have not been released to the public yet. Likewise, Hale seems to have a good understanding of the type of comedy that Saget typically produces, and he uses this as a good way to measure whether or not Saget is successful in his new endeavor (spoiler alert! – Saget’s not as funny as in years past, and this is apparent on his new show).
The organization of the feature is rather fluid – there are no confusing changes in topic or structure. The first two paragraphs talk about Sagat’s history and the transformation he made from wholesome to whorish in his comedic style. The third paragraph, however, discusses how he comes off in his new show, which Hale describes as “insincere and condescending”. The last six paragraphs discuss the new show itself, with quotes from Saget and his “co-stars” sprinkled throughout. This brings some more life to the story, but not much, as the quotes are something you will eventually see on the show. I would rather read a quote or two that Hale had to fish for – rather than it being handed to him via early viewing of the episode. And finally, the article finished off with viewing information about the show, which in and of itself is not interesting, but rather necessary considering that people who read this article might just want to tune into tonight’s episode.
New York Magazine’s Vanessa Grigoriadis is responsible for “Growing up Gaga;” a feature story about… yes, “her.” Lady Gaga currently reigns as the biggest pop star in the world. In March 2010, Grigoroadis published the story that had been in the works for a year.
Rewind to March 2009: Grigoroadis landed a one-on-one interview with the then up-and-coming Gaga, who had just released her low-budget video for “Just Dance.” This is the basis for the first part of the feature story.
Grigoroadis begins by giving a detailed description of where she met with Gaga; The Roosevelt Hotel in Hollywood. This is where the rendezvous took place, and this is what will carry her story. She gives a brief bit of background on Gaga at the time (“opening for New Kids on the Block), which gives emphasis to how quickly Gaga rose to fame, and literally how far she has come. Grigoroadis also recalls some of her own expectations for Gaga back in 2009, before meeting with her: “I assumed that someone with a stage name of “Lady” was going to be a bit standoff-ish.”
The bulk of the first page of the story is derived from the interview itself. In both detail and content, Grigoroadis paints a clear picture of both the scene and the mood of the meeting. She also does well quoting Gaga, implementing her banter strategically throughout the piece.
Moving on, Grigoroadis focused her research solely on Gaga’s claim to fame over the course of the last year. This was part of her section called “How a pop-star is manufactured.” In this part, she writes about how Lady Gaga was in the right place at the right time with the right sound and the WAY right look, calling her “visually iconic.” Sayonara, Madonna! Grigoroadis also gives credit to Gaga for her willingness to be “a mutant, a cartoon.”
The rest of the feature focuses on the true transformation from Stefani Joanne Germanotta to Lady Gaga, even going so far as to detail where she got her stage name from to how she channels Andy Warhol (another subject of her research for the piece).
Other aspects to the feature story were a few multimedia pieces (i.e., a “look-book: 101 Gaga Outfits”). The pictures chosen in throughout the story are brilliant and really add emphasis to Grigoroadis’ idea of how Gaga was “manufactured.”
Grigoroadis did a brilliant job at taking the reader on Gaga’s journey from an amateur New York singer to nearly overnight sensation. From the organization of the article to the detail Grigoroadis uses to elucidate to the research that was obviously done, this piece is an iconic look at the biggest modern day icon.
Tags: "Just Dance", Feature response, Interviews, Lady Gaga, New York Magazine, pop culture, Pop Icon, Pop Music, Vanessa Grigoriadis
Every three weeks or so, some blogger or journalist randomly muses (15 years after the fact) that grunge is dead, as though they are the first to develop this theory. But while the Eddie Vedder quote at the start of the latest grunge memorial is just as stale (it’s from 1994), it’s more open for debate and thus more interesting. Why do you think certain bands–Vedder names Talking Heads and Nirvana among others–become so quickly drained when other bands like the Rolling Stones go on forever? All groups go through conflict; what’s the magic formula that makes or breaks a unit?
Tags: eddie vedder, grunge, Music, rock
Sotheby’s will be auctioning off Bob Dylan’s hand-written lyrics to the famous ballad “The Times They Are A-Changin” on Dec. 10.
The lyrics, which are written on nothing more than a discolored and smudged piece of paper, are expected to sell for $200,000 – $300,000. Ay Caramba.
Who the heck has that kind of expendable income?
Read the full story here.