Category: entertainment

Mermaids

Daphne PsaledakisLeave a comment

Recently there seems to be a fascination with becoming a mermaid – and not just among seven year-old girls.

Linden Wolbert quit her job in 2005 as a residence director of Emerson College, in order to become a full-time professional mermaid. She is equipped with a 35-pound, 6-foot long hydrodynamic tail.

Thanks to training as a free-diver, Wolbert is capable of holding her breath for five minutes, and swimming down to about 100-feet.

However, Linden Wolbert is not the only one who has made a lifestyle for them-self through an obsession with mermaids. Eric Ducharme, from Florida, was recently featured on TLC’s My Crazy Obsession, for his passionate love of menfolk.

As a child, Ducharme had been enraptured by stories of the elusive creatures. Now, Ducharme makes realistic looking mermaid tails out of various materials.

Personally, I don’t understand the obsession. But to each his own I guess, and I wish them the best of luck with their merbusiness.

What’s that I smell? Comeback.

callmemaybe32Leave a comment

The Kings started off this shortened season on sort of rocky seas so to speak.

The home opener against the Chicago Blackhawks was nothing short of depressing after riding out the high of winning the Stanley Cup.

In the end losing to the Blackhawks made sense seeing as they went on to set the all time record for most consecutive games from the start of a season not lost in regular time.

For a while it looked like the Kings were going to fall out of playoff contention, but just as they did last year they, to quote a song, “started from the bottom, and now the whole team’s [*******] here.”

Last year they went from being the #8 seed in the Western Conference to the #1 team in the NHL within a matter of weeks.

The Kings are currently holding in 4th place, but are tied with Vancouver at 48 points.

The Blackhawks remain #1 with 62 out of a possible 76 points, and have clinched a playoff spot, but it will be a battle with the Anaheim Ducks to see who takes the west.

Hopefully the Kings climb to the top, but their final position in the west is unknown.

Hopefully they can pull out a repeat of last year and come up from the bottom, surprising everyone in their path.

Bioshock

backinphillyLeave a comment

By now, a lot of hardcore gamers have heard of the popular series Bioshock. Just recently, the third installment, titled Bioshock Infinite was released.

It is already being called the Game of the Year. That includes its competitor, Grand Theft Auto 5, which is due out later this year.

I think its premature to call anything the game of the year when its only April. We still have 9 more months before we pick a winner. But, let’s look at how popular Bioshock has been.

Bioshock was marketed as a horror/action/adventure game, and is well worth those labels. Up until recently, however, I had zero interest in the Bioshock series. When I was younger, about 3 years ago maybe, I stayed over a friend’s house, and he played Bioshock at 2 in the morning. I was petrified and swore that I would one day conquer the game. Recently, the Apple Mac App store released an app version of the first Bioshock game. I waited for a sale to cut down the 30 dollar price (I bought mine for 10 bucks) and started playing.

I haven’t finished yet.

I am in awe. I played until 3 AM the other day, and thank god it was Friday night. It wouldn’t have mattered if it was a Tuesday night. I couldn’t put the game away. It’s intensity is completely unmatched.

Big Daddies are my favorite characters.

This picture should explain just about everything.

Yes, he’s that large thing. He goes completely psychotic is you so much as breathe the wrong way. See that little girl next to him, she’s the little sister. If you touch her EVER, you’re going to die. That drill for a hand is not for show.

Third Man

smackyjackjackLeave a comment

Honestly, I don’t see how I’ve gone this long without doing some sort of blog about Jack White and Third Man Records, so let me just start it by stating (or understating) that Jack White is my hero, so just about everything he does is awesome.

Third Man Records is the label that Jack White started in Nashville as a way to basically bring back the blues into the modern era.

One of the things Third Man has in their store that is extremely awesome is the reissue of the anthology of Blind Willie Mctell (one of the greatest guitar players ever), Charlie Patton and the Mississippi Sheiks (one of the first rock n roll bands ever). This is an awesome way to make sure that Delta Blues stays in our culture forever. This is some of the best music ever recorded, I highly recommend you all go check it out.

One of the acts signed to TMR is the incredible and unique Seasick Steve. Seasick Steve…well…he knows what he’s doing. One of his guitars only has three strings, while another one, that he made out of a broom stick and pie pan, has only one. Check him out if you like slide.

Some other artists that are or have been signed to TMR are the Alabama Shakes, Reggie Watts, Beck and Pokey Lafarge (check him out he’s awesome).  But above all else, just go  look around the website here, and you’ll be opening a door to some amazing music.

The Art of Raw Denim

displacedlocalLeave a comment

Denim is an american Icon, from levi strauss to James Dean denim has evolved through many subcultures and styles.

Denim enthusiasts gather online to discuss the subtleties of a great pair of jeans. Often drooling over the japanese made pairs that were created on old shuttle looms. It isn’t washed treated, or soaked before you get it. It is simply raw.

I have a pair of jeans that I find to have molded to me. each fade and tear has a story. They still are quite dark, but after a few years of wear the denim looks amazing.

The fade on every pair is unique to the wearer and becomes a footprint of the person wearing them.

Here is another picture illustrating the huge difference a year can make.

UP.

eternity1030Leave a comment

“Thanks for the adventure. Now go have a new one.”

– Ellie

I watched this movie three years ago, and I was moved by the exciting adventure of a flying house.

Then I watched the movie last year, and I was moved by the interactions between two generations.

Last night, I watched it again. And I discovered a part that I’ve ignored for a long time – the memory between Carl Fredricksen and his wife Ellie.

The film “centers on an elderly widower named Carl Fredricksen and an earnest young Wilderness Explorer named Russell. By tying thousands of balloons to his home, 78-year-old Carl sets out to fulfill his lifelong dream to see the wilds of South America and to complete a promise made to his lifelong love.”

I did not realize that the memory was really playing a big role throughout Carl’s entire life.

Read More »

Jazz

displacedlocal1 Comment

I have been listening to quite a bit of Jazz lately. Exploring the brass of Dizzy Gillespie and Miles Davis.

The upbeat rhythms and adventurous melodies get me excited to ordinarily mundane tasks like cleaning and doing math homework.

It gives everything a unique feel, and keeps me excited to do everything. I used to play Jazz, but I fell victim to the sports requirement for my last school. Jazz still plays in my soul, and whenever it plays that melody is reborn.

Currently, I have been listening to songs like “I’ll Remember April” played by Miles Davis.

The running bass line gives the song consistency while Davis creates beautiful melodies with his natural musicality.

It infuses the rhythm into ones soul, and plays against your own heartbeat.

Bebop
by Dizzy Gillespie is also a fantastic example of this upbeat style. The drummer’s play of the cymbal, and the fast tempo creates a nice sense of controlled chaos that is the essence of the style.

Math.

eternity1030Leave a comment

Actually I am not a great math student, and math is not my favorite subject to study. I mean math is gonna be very useful in our future careers, but what I don’t like about math is that math is just confusing sometimes and I hate the feeling when all of those numbers are stuck in my head.

Tests have to be performed in education, I totally understand that and I’ve been taking so many tests as I grow up so I dont have any problems about tests or I should say students just have to take tests.

Read More »

Joyeux Noel

Daphne Psaledakis1 Comment

Years ago, I remember watching a French movie about war. In all honesty, that’s about all I remember, except for this one scene in the middle of a snowy field with an officer in blue standing in the middle. The actors spoke in French, and being fluent in French myself, I followed along as best I could. What I didn’t quite catch, I would refer to the english subtitles in order to interpret.

Because I was so focused on understanding what the characters were saying, I missed a lot of what was actually happening in the film. I do remember that it was amazing though.

This week in A.P. World History, we were assigned group projects. My partners and I were assigned a prompt asking us to compare what our textbook told us about WWI to the song “Christmas in the Trenches” by John McCutcheon. As I listened to the song, I suddenly realized that the scene being set by the singer was one somewhat familiar to the movie I had seen years before, Joyeux Noel.

This week, my research has helped me to understand why that movie was so amazing. I had no idea that it was reenacting the Christmas Truce of 1914, where soldiers on a battlefield during WWI called an unofficial truce for the holidays.

Read More »

The Rolling Stone is Wrong. Part Four.

smackyjackjackLeave a comment

I’m almost done with these lists, I swear. However, there are still a couple of lists that need to be corrected. Featured this time in part four of this series is why their list of the greatest albums is wrong.

The Actual Greatest Albums of All Time

1.   The Rolling Stone says: Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band- The Beatles

      Jack Beverly says: Pet Sounds-The Beach Boys

Slightly before Brian Wilson went insane, he and the rest of the Beach Boys made what can be described in no other way than a pure masterpiece. Wilson produced this album in such a way where all of the instruments come together to make one pure and unique sound that flows all the way through the album. I cannot emphasize how unique and incredible the production is on this album.

2.   The Rolling Stone says: Pet Sounds-The Beach Boys

      Jack Beverly says: Exile on Main Street-The Rolling Stones

This is quite possibly the greatest rock n roll album ever made. Even though the album was made by several British people, it sounds so authentically Southern and true. Songs like “Shake your hips” and “Ventilator Blues” are jsut a few of the songs that get stuck in your head after hearing them. Plus, this album has some of the greatest, and most rushed artwork in music history.

Key Track:

3.   The Rolling Stone says: Revolver – The Beatles

      Jack Beverly says: The White Album-The Beatles

It’s pretty hard to find fault with this album, or with the Beatles in general. The only reason I had a hard time choosing this album over anything else they’ve done is simply because it’s longer. Rubber Soul and Abby Road were easy contenders, but, once again, The White album is just longer. It is a pure masterpiece of the Beatles, and truly showcases all the were.

Key Track: