Category: entertainment

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.

 

Daft Punk

realtompagnozziLeave a comment

I can hardly believe I’ve gone this long without a Daft Punk post. Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo are not just legends of electro house, but icons of a musical generation.

While attending a French university, Bangalter and Manuel started a band with Laurent Brancowitz called Darlin’. The members themselves now admit the project was not their best work. A negative review by Melody Maker magazine claimed it was “a bunch of daft punk”. The trio had the last laugh however, as Brancowitz went on to form Phoenix and dominate electropop while the others donned robot helmets and made history.

Daft Punk rose to fame with the single Da Funk off of their debut album, Homework. The single entailed a music video by Spike Jonze for MTV. Shortly after, the duo signed to Virgin records and hired Pedro Winter as their manager. Eight years later, Busy P created the powerhouse French record label, Ed Banger. Daft Punk truly has the Midas touch.

Five studio albums later, the group is now producing the soundtrack to the upcoming Tron Legacy for Disney, which I can assume is the heftiest paycheck the duo has received in a while. That said, I’m sure they enjoyed the challenge of producing a movie score instead of a new album (See: SebastiAN’s OST for Notre Jour Viendre).

Daft Punk are legends of the French house scene. They headline and sell out every stadium they play. In fact, It has become somewhat of a rite of passage for DJs to remix a Daft Punk song with justice to the original (See also: SebastiAN’s Human After All remix).

Cultural context can transform your perception of music. Hopefully the next time you see Daft Punk, you think Daft punk, and not those guys with the robot helmets who made “One more time.”

MICHAEL

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This Is It… For the children of the 60’s all the way through to the 21st century it was hard to learn that their idol, role model, and King had finally sang his last song and passed away. But we all know that Michael Jackson’s music will live on throughout history for years and years.

King of Pop

Even after Jackson’s death his fans will be running to every store across the nation and around the world to buy his newest album. The  record entitled Michael contains 10 of the hundreds of songs that Jackson produced just a few years before his death. It is scheduled to make its debut on the 14th of this month and who knows how long it will be before every last copy is bought and the shelves of every department store, record store, and online store are empty.

M. Jackson

So, this is really it. One last walk on the moon after 51 years of musical excellence. Will we ever forget the man who put the “pop” into Pop Music? Probably not. His music will live on forever, continuously influencing todays artists.

In Loving Memory

Little Michael

Michael Joseph Jackson

(Aug. 29, 1958-June 25, 2009)

America’s richest and most powerful celebrities

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No one can deny the fact that television play a huge role in one’s daily life. Television influences us and our children’s mind in both good and bad ways. Yet there is absolutely no way we can restrain ourselves from watching it. Therefore today, celebrities sit on one of the most powerful positions in the world. Here are the 10 most powerful celebrities of the world-

10. Madonna- the pop artist who has influenced many young men and women to sing is sitting at number 10.

9. Johnny Depp– The tattoo lover is an actor, screenwriter and director who has stared in two films so far that have made a profit of 1 billion, making him one of the most powerful celebrities.

8. Sandra Bullock– with two hit films in a row and an oscar in her hand, Sandra Bullock is not only a powerful celebrity but currently the most highly paid actress.

7. U2- the world’s biggest rock band had a world tour in 2009 that had made 311 million dollars. Each tour brings in 10 million dollars, and with the addition of their income from C.D’s and stage shows, they are the highest earning band in the world.

6. Britney Spears– despite the hard time after her break up with ex husband, Britney Spears managed to get back on the charts of highest selling albums in 2009. This is perhaps what they call, “sweet revenge.”

5. Tiger Woods- Tiger Woods’ fall from global sports icon to tabloid fodder was stunning. However, he remains the highest paid athlete in the world with brands such as nike and electronic arts at his feet for advertising.

4. Lady Gaga– a new comer in the world of fame, she grabbed attention with her outlandish outfits and strange videos. She now earns a whopping 96 million a year.

3. James Cameron–  director of the highest grossing film of all time,  Avatar, which earned $2.7 billion at the box office alone and has changed the way Hollywood makes films. In the near future almost every studio blockbuster will be released in 3-D. Cameron is already at work on Avatar 2.

2. Beyonce Knowles– continues to expand her empire beyond music. Endorsement deals with companies such as Nintendo and L’Oreal, her growing House of Dereon fashion line bring in millions of dollars per year.

1. Oprah Winfrey– host of the Oprah Winfrey Show, Oprah Winfrey, is the only self made billionaire celebrity in the world. She gets more media attention than any other celebrity in the world and had made spawned the careers of Dr. Phil, Rachel Ray and Dr. Oz.

Spike Jonze

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Spike Jonze is not only one of the most versatile directors in the field, but his attention to minimalist style is unmatched. After all, how many directors do you know with their own stage name?

Jonze kicked off his career by making music videos for MTV back when they had music. He produced “100%” by Sonic Youth, solidifying his position as a directing prodigy. He makes high profile music videos to this day. His credits also include directing Daft Punk, Weezer, the Beastie Boys, R.E.M., Fatboy Slim, and recently Arcade Fire, with his beautiful take on “The Suburbs”.

Jonze is also one of the few people on this planet that can include both Where the Wild Things Are as well as the Jackass trilogy on his resume. Another interesting tidbit: his brother is the high profile DJ Squeak E. Clean, famous for his collaborations with the musical group N.A.S.A.

From super slow motion skateboarding videos with remote explosives, to elaborate costumes for CGI blockbusters, Spike Jonze is a brilliant director and one of the most respected names in the industry.

Spider-Man Meets Broadway

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Recently, Broadway’s musical, “Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark,” has become an online hit as people have been intrigued at the idea of a masculine hero turned into a man in tights.

Directed by Tony-winning Julie Taymor, with scores by The Edge and U2‘s singer Bono, this musical has become the most expensive show in the history of Broadway, reported to cost a total of $65 million.

On Sunday, actor Reeve Carney took center stage as “spidey” on Broadway as preview performances of “Spider Man: Turn off the Dark” began in New York’s Foxwoods Theater. Unfortunately, audiences were marred with long delays by numerous technical mishaps.

“Overhead stage wires dropped on the audience, scenery appeared on stage missing pieces–and the show’s star was even left swaying helplessly over them midair during what was supposed to be the climatic end to the first act,” said Michael Riedel, a known New York Post columnist.

Feeling more like “guinea pigs” than an audience, these public viewers did not share the same excitement as directors had anticipated.

Although it may not have gotten off to a great start, “Spider-Man: Turn off the Dark” is expected to be better prepared, more equipped, and ready to perform on it’s scheduled opening, January 1st.

Ambani brothers at war.

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After their split in business a couple a years ago, the richest brothers in the world, Mukesh and Anil Ambani, seem to be constantly competing against each other, not only at work but also at home.

The brothers divided their billion dollar property after the death of their self-made father and oil tycoon, Dhirubhai Ambani. Ever since, there has been no stoping for the two who are determined to beat each other in the race.

The two took their competition home. While the elder, Mukesh Ambani spent a whopping $60 million to buy his wife a corporate jet for her 44th birthday, the younger, Anil, did not feel left behind because the year after he spent $84 million on a Yacht that he bought for his wife, Tina Ambani.

yacht.jpg

With the opening of Mukesh’s new billion dollar house in Mumbai, which has been announced the most expensive house in the world, it is obvious Anil probably feels a little left behind. However, it is probably not long before the younger brother had something new to challenge his brother with.

The Beatles Are On iTunes!

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“Tomorrow is just another day. That you’ll never forget.”

Apple displayed this arcane message on their website until 10 A.M. Eastern Standard Time on November the 16th. It has been replaced with a large monochrome picture of the Beatles with black bold letters reading, “The Beatles. Now on iTunes.”

This message is still presented on Apple’s website today. The Beatles have reached the Top 100 downloaded songs on iTunes within the first few weeks and still stands strong in its ranking.

Nerdfighters.

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Nerdfighter: (n) a person who is not composed of cells, bones, tissue, etc. but is instead composed entirely out of awesome.

Welcome to Nerdfighteria.

Hank and John Green, proud founders of Brotherhood 2.0 and Nerdfighteria, are two brothers who wanted to reconnect using only video blogs. The Vlogbrothers promote being weird or a bit off-center, proudly stating that being a nerd is one of the best things to be.

With three videos a week, Hank and John are still able to keep up with their “day jobs.”

Hank Green is the creator of the website ecogeek.org and is a comical musician, writing songs about Harry Potter, selling dogs on eBay, and giraffes.

John Green is an award-winning author, writing the books Looking for Alaska, An Abundance of Katherines, Paper Towns, and the co-written Will Grayson, Will Grayson.

Their videos are humorous and sometimes rather informative.

I am very proud to be a Nerdfighter and encourage anyone to watch the Vlogbrothers’ videos and join Nerdfighteria.

DFTBA*, Nerdfighters, DFTBA.


*An initialism: Don’t Forget To Be Awesome

Spoiler Alert?

theycallmedameLeave a comment

I went to see Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows Part 1 yesterday, and I was more than enthusiastic with the results. I was paying strict attention to the scenes and details and I found only three important things that they either altered a little bit or left out entirely.

Compared to all of the other Harry Potter movies, this is phenomenal.

The only major things they left out or changed in the movie that JK Rowling wrote in the book were the goodbyes between Harry and the Dursley family, Hedwig‘s death (sadface), and a mural Luna Lovegood had painted on the ceiling of her room.

In the book, Harry’s cousin, Dudley Dursley, gives Harry a strong hug goodbye and confesses how he never hated Harry, not after he saved his life in Book Five. In the movie, however, Harry just watches them drive away in their car, never to be seen again.

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