Author: smackyjackjack

Jimmy Reed

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The blues world has had a great number of musicians, BB King, Muddy Waters, Little Walter. But one of the best, most underrated musicians is Jimmy Reed.  Jimmy Reed was the amazing, blues singer of the late fifties and sixtes. Some of his hit songs include “Ain’t that Lovin’ you Baby,” “Down in Virgina” and “Bright Lights, Big City.”

He was known not only for  his guitar playing and lazy singing, but also for his rampant alcoholism.  He would show up so drunk to his album recordings, that his wife would have to help him remember the lyrics. In one of his recordings, he even stops the song, talks about something else, then keeps it going again because he is so drunk. This later led to a case of epilepsy.

But no matter what his personal life was like, he will always be remembered as a pioneer for blues.

 

UCLA Bonfire

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Yesterday (Wednesday, Dec. 1), the UCLA Bruins held their annual beat ‘sc bonfire.  The bonfire is a burning of all things Trojan. The students at UCLA brought their old red shirts to burn. Any student who brought a red shirt was given a free blue one. The bonfire was held at Wilson Plaza at UCLA.

The great rivalry between the two schools has resulted in major pranks. The students at UCLA have been taking turns guarding the massive Grizzly Bear statue. This year, however, they failed to protect it enough. The bear was painted red and the surrounding fountains were spewing red dye.

Meat.

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It all started with Upton Sinclair‘s “The Jungle.” This book showed how cramped and dirty meat stockyards were in the US. Food sanitation, and more importantly, food safety, has been a big concern of many people in America.

Even today, the agricultural business has a very bad rap. The cows, chickens and other animals used for food are treated horribly. The animals are put in cages that do not allow them to move. They are forced fed food to become as fat as possible. They know nothing about being outside or being able to run, or even walk. When they are good and plump, they are slaughtered for food.Old Chicago stockyards

As sad as all of this is, there still is some hope. The senate just passed a new bill that increases food safety regulations. This is the first change in food saftey laws in a very long time. The bill was passed by a vote of 73 to 25.

LA Auto Show and the Phantom v

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The L.A. auto show is happening this week. Some of the world’s most amazing cars will premiere at the show; futuristic cars, new sports cars and energy efficient cars. I have gone to the show for many years, but i will now be going this year.

To me, cars are a way of getting from point A to point B, but there is one car that stands out. The Rolls Royce Phantom v is the only car that I have ever loved. The classic car is very large, yet very elegant. To me, it symbolizes classy-ness and beauty. This is the car that I want to own when I am able to have one. The Rolls Royce Phantom v…..

Phantom v

Music

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As a lover of music, I sometimes feel that the music I like is GREATLY under-appreciated.  Many of my fellow students listen to newer, lamer music.  Music like Kanye West and Deadmaus are polluting eardrums all over the world. The music I like comes from the classic genres like blues and old school country, not techno and hip-hop.
The greatest genre of the two is definitely blues. Everything came from the blues and musicians like Robert Johnson, Muddy Waters and Jimmy Reed. The best modern blues songs are by the White Stripes. Country is a great genre as well. The newer country is much worse than the older stuff though. By older I mean musicians like Johnny Cash and Hank Williams Jr.
Obviously though, not all new music is bad. As I said before, the White Stripes are amazing (even if Jack White has sold out). Bands like AC/DC and the Stones are classic. People need to remember where music came from in order to appreciate the music they like now.

Silent Revolution

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An amazing new art project called “Silent Revolution” has just been installed at Isla de Mujeres, Mexico.  The project is an artificial reef. The reef is made of 400 life size concrete people. The project has taken 18 months. The underwater people range from small children to old people.  The project cost $250,000 to make and is now a prime tourist spot. Tourists can now go scuba diving and marvel at the underwater museum.

The Aussie Economy Surge

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Good for some, and bad for pretty much everyone else, for the first time in history, the Australian dollar has risen above the American dollar. This is a bit of old news (about 2 weeks), but it deserves a lot of notoriety.  For the entire history of both countries, the Australian dollar has been the underdog. But due to a falter in America’s economy and a recent surge in Australia’s, it has happened.

 

The Aussie Currency.

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Off to a Good Start

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Today, the Lakers played a magnificent game against the Golden State Warriors. The Lakers cruised past this team with tremendous ease and ability with a final score of 107-83. The great success is due to the Lakers’ strong bench. With players like Shannon Brown, Matt Barnes and Steve Blake, the media has dubbed the bench the “Killer Bees” (due to their last names).  The Lakers have had an amazing season and pre-season so far. Their main worry though, is the Celtics. At the beginning of the year I would have said it was the Heat (because they have LeBron James, Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh), but they lost to the Celtics several days ago. If I were to make an assumption about the championship, then I would say the finals will be between the Lakers and the Celtics, with the Lakers winning in six games.

 

Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear

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Today, one of the most amazing political rallies in America took place in the National Mall in Washington D.C. The “Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear” took place.  This, of course, was the hugely successful political rally that comedy talk show hosts Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert hosted. Jon Stewart held the rally to restore sanity to America, while Colbert sarcastically held it to restore fear. The rally boasted such celebrities as Cat Stevens, Ozzy Osborne, Mavis Staples, Jeff Tweedy,  the O-Jays, John Legend, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Sheryl Crow, the Roots and many more (including a giant puppet of Colbert). There were supposedly 250, 000 people in attendance. The crowd of people stretched from the Capitol Building to the National Monument.

The rally was supposed to be funny, but had very strong political themes. Stewart and Colbert debated one of the largest issues in America, the media. Stewart argued that the media sends too many messages of fear, while Colbert sarcastically made fun of him. The highlight of the rally was when the never-seen Cat Stevens got into a musical argument with Ozzy Ozborne. In all, the rally was a huge success, and hopefully it restored sanity to many.

Rally to restore Sanity and/or Fear

R.I.P. Paul

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One of the world’s most beloved octopuses has died. Yes, Paul the World Cup predicting octopus  died today. Paul, of course, was the octopus that correctly predicted the outcome of eight of Germany‘s soccer matches. He also chose Spain as the winner of the World Cup. They too won. The choosing process was conducted by putting two tanks with clams inside and the countries colors on each tank inside his habitat. Whichever tank Paul opened and went inside was the winner. Paul died of natural causes at the age of 2 1/2.

Paul choosing Spain