Good music "shammed" out of the Grammy's (Part 2/2)

Here to view: Part 1

Now we get into the individual genres, and into the smaller awards. I'll give my reasoning behind what will win and what should change instead of saying what should win.

Best New Artist nominations:
J. Cole
Skrillex
Nicki Minaj
Bon Iver
The Band Perry

What will win: Bon Iver will be the winner in this case, it seems as the album put out this year did him no wrong and put his name out there regardless Bon Iver isn't that new of an artist.

What should change: I feel that the amount of truly new artists on this list isn't really best exemplifed. As much as I love J. Cole and Bon Iver, I don't feel that they're exactly the newest artists along with Nicki Minaj. I do believe Skrillex and The Band Perry are fair representations of this list but I feel that there are other artists that could definitely be put on this list that are just as deserving.

Best Alternative Album of the year nominations:
Bon Iver- Bon Iver
Codes and Keys- Death Cab for Cutie
Torches- Foster the People
Circuital- My Morning Jacket
The King of Limbs- Radiohead

What will win: As hard as this is to decide, I want to say that Bon Iver's Bon Iver album will win this.

What should change: This honestly be the most fair list I've seen thus far. I believe this is one of the best representations of alternative music in the year, and I cannot argue with anything on this list.


Best Rap Album of the year nominations:
Watch the Throne- Kanye West & Jay-Z
My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy- Kanye West
Lasers- Lupe Fiasco
Pink Friday- Nicki Minaj
Tha Carter IV- Lil Wayne

What will win: 2/5 of this list (40%) is Kanye West. I have a feeling it'll be handed off to one of the two Kanye dominated albums. Which one, I'm not sure yet.

What should change: I feel that there is a long list of albums that didn't make this list, but when Pink Friday and Tha Carter IV make a list like this, well I guess there isn't much argument. I believe that J. Cole's Sideline Story, The Root's undun, and and even The Game's R.E.D album could've been fair representations.

Thank you to tuning into my Grammy post! I'm not the greatest music critic and I really didn't get deep into each explanation due to time constraints. I really just feel that the Grammy's don't accurately represent who were the best of the year and that there should be some change and that's why I posted this blog. I'll probably be back after the Grammy's to see how it panned out, I'll do a review and compare to what I thought.

Good music "shammed" out of the Grammy's (Part 1/2)

As the announcement of the Grammy nominations came out for the 54th Grammy Show on Febuary 12th, 2012 a response that would usually be happy with the nominations has completely changed for me. After seeing a tweet from one of my good friends saying something along the lines as "What the f#&k, the Grammies become more watcher-friendly ever year," it hit me.  Being a music connoisseur, the Grammy awards are something I always look forward to, this year is a different story. The Grammy awards have come to the point where they use over-milked popular options to gain attention and really don't focus on the musical value of it.
Instead of ranting this whole blog, I decided I'd mix it up and add my opinions of albums, songs, artists that should have been awarded or the winners of the already nominations:

Record of the year nominatons:
Rolling in the Deep- Adele
Holocene- Bon Iver
Gernade- Bruno Mars
The Cave- Mumford & Sons
Fireworks- Katy Perry


What will win: Rolling in the Deep, Adele's amazing vocals, the amount time spent on the radio charts, and the hype that came with Adele's 21 album will easily put Adele as the winner of this years record of the deal.

What should win: Holocene, Justin Vernon's vocals paired with the relaxed meledous instrumental just makes the song one of the best of the year. Adele's song does come in a close second, but the facetime value that the mainstream adds will give Adele that extra push.

What should be added: Midnight City by M83, is one of the most phenomenal tracks of 2011 and really should replace the annoying, yes freaking annoying (call me Tyler, the Creator) song of Gernade by Bruno Mars. Pumped Up Kicks by Foster the People made more noise in the underground and mainstream this year alone and is one of the best tracks of 2011 and should replace Fireworks by Katy Perry.


Album of the year nominations:
21- Adele
Wasting Lights- Foo Fighters
Born This Way- Lady Gaga
Doo-Wops & Hooligans- Bruno Mars
Loud- Rhianna

What will win: In my opinion, I do think that Adele's 21 will take album of the year and there isn't much doubt behind that.


What Should Win: From this list, in my opinion Adele's 21 album should be the clear cut winner. As much as I respect and like both Lady Gaga and Rhianna, I don't feel that either of their albums have the musical elements that make 21 the album of the year. As for the Foo Fighters, I see it as the runner-up in this list, the album was great but pitted up aginst their previous releases this is album isn't too much different. Bruno Mars...Don't get me started.

What should be added: If I could remove this entire list and replace it with different albums in my opinion, I would no doubt about it. Before anything, I just want to include one key album in this list and that would be Foster the People's Torches, in my opinion one of the VERY best albums this year. I'd also recommend Bon Iver's self-titled Bon Iver album as well. Also Florence + The Machine's Ceremonial's album as well. Any of those last three in my last opinion are some of the very best albums of 2011 (and all came out in time to be nominated).

Song of the year nominations:
All of the Lights- Kanye West
The Cave- Mumford & Sons
Grenade- Bruno Mars
Holocene- Bon Iver
Rolling in the Deep- Adele

What will win: Who is going to even argue with Adele's Rolling in the Deep, in my opinion it may not be song of the year but the Grammy's will be Adele's night.

What should win: This is a very reasonable list aside Bruno Mars, (really, I don't see the talent in this guy compared to others). I'd also say that All of the Lights is also out of question because that song was released in 2010 but music awards were still trying to avoid Kanye at that time. In think between The Cave, Holocene, and Rolling in the Deep this could go either way but I still think that Holocene had everything to be song of the year, aside the popularity and should be song of the year.

What should be added: Much like Record of the Year, I believe that Foster the People's Pumped up Kicks and M83's Midnight City should be added into this mix. Want my reasoning? Go up to record of the year.

Lesson 6: Twitter is taking over.

“Twitter lets me hear from a lot of people in a very short period of time.”- Robert Scoble

Twitter is taking over the world of journalism. I know the quote is kind of a lame way to put it, but it is so true. I remember joining Twitter in 2009, thinking, why am I joining this? I'm not a celebrity and nobody is going to care what I have to say. In the two years since I joined I've acquired only a mere 250 followers, but Twitter has become a part of my life in such a weird way. It doesn't quite dictate my life, as some teenagers are letting Twitter, but it really has become a big part of my daily life and has really taken over.

The other day in our news-magazine production class, our teacher asked us to do some homework...Like really, homework? We've never had homework in that class before aside our duties apart of the class in terms of editing, writing, and well you get the point. We were asked to read an article and take notes about it, it was about Twitter. At first, I thought the assignment was pretty dumb (probably because it was our only homework we've ever had) but after reading it, it was actually an interesting article and I actually learned about a few things...Rare.

The homework we were assigned was perfectly timely because Twitter just made their newest update (which is actually a very nice layout page, Twitter, don't pull a Facebook, keep it the way it is) but they updated it to make it more user-friendly, and even better for journalism. Instead of it being as separated as it was before, you can now see pretty much everything you'd want to from three pages: home, connect, and discover. The new change in terms of journalism is one of the very best updates Twitter has had yet.

Innovative. Twitter's new discovery page. Some of the top trending topics are made into stories that redirect you to news websites and also refer you to the trending page that takes you into a list of all related tweets.

Twitter has taken over and has become the new thing in social networking but also journalism itself. I find a majority of my news on Twitter, and its no doubt that a lot of other people do as well (this year alone, I discovered the death of Steve Jobs, the findings of Osama Bin Laden, and the announcement of the NFL Lockout/NBA lockouts being over with, all through Twitter). The new discovery page on Twitter opens up unlimited options for journalism and as mentioned by Buttry, Twitter is the best invention for journalists since the cell phone (which can easily go hand-in-hand). There is no doubt that Twitter is taking over, but as Roger Kondrat said "Facebook is to 2007 is to 2009," makes me ponder is Twitter to 2009 while 2012 will be to something else?

As for now, Twitter is one of the most useful tools in this age of access. Everything said by a favorite celebrity, friend, peer, or anybody can be in your palm in seconds through Twitter and you can discover countless things. The Torch has made its transfer to Twitter this year and has been successful and one of the things really stressed aside the newsmagazine itself. Twitter is taking over, the world of journalism and the world of media and is one of the best innovations, in my opinion of journalism today, but will it be tomorrows best outlet? I guess we'll wait and see.

Torch Issue

New Torch issue out this week. Check it out online! View my work.

Click Here to Read

Gamer Craze: Top 11 Games of 2011 (Part 2)

Finally, I've come to my senses and decided to finish off this darned post. As much as I love video games, the amount I've had to play video games is very slim as of lately which doesn't give me the oppurtunity to really get to talk, play, and criticize these games efficientally. These are all games that I've played (rented mostly) but that I can be opinionated on because well...I can! Let's get started.

A review of the first 11-6 can be found here: Gamer Craze: Top 11 Games of 2011 (Part 1). For those too lazy to click on the link a list can be found below:

Honorable Mentions: NBA 2k12 and Madden 12
11. Saint's Row 3
10. The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
9. Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3
8. Modern Warfare 3
7. Battlefield 3
6. Portal 2

Let us continue?

5. Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception

With some of the greatest graphics of all-time, funnest game play, and two previous games, Uncharted 3 definitely is one of the best games of 2011. As addicting as it is, the game really has no faults of its own aside the fact that the only platform it can be played on is Playstation 3 (I lucked out). 

4. Assassin's Creed: Revelations

As fast as the game seemed to come out, Assassin's Creed Revelations truly was one of the most fun games of 2011. If you long awaited this game after beating AC2, the game was definitely worth the time spent. The game did seem a little rushed in terms of production, although the new multiplayer mode was on par with the rest of the game. The game was a great follow-up to the second installment and is follows up with Brotherhood just as good (for those not into the series, Brotherhood had a different plot compared to 2/Revelations).

3. Batman: Arkham City

One of the most anticipated games of 2011 definitely was Batman's Arkham City. After Arkham Asylum got everybody hooked on the series as 2009's game of the year, Arkham City became one of the most awaited games. Arkham City delivers in every way. Even if you haven't played Arkham Asylum, still rent and pick up a copy of Arkham City although if you want to take the cheap route and buy the first game, you'll definitely follow up on the second game.

2. Little Big Planet 2

Some may say, I'm a little biased with this pick but LBP2 not only in my opinion is one of the best games of the year but is also one of the best of all-time. LBP2 took exactly what LBP was (amazing) and furthered it in every way by adding more features, details, and gameplay modes (new PSMove functionality) that gave the game a huge push. Even though it is a Playstation 3 exclusive, the game is no doubt one of the best.

DRUMROLL PLEASE:

1. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

The game that many games completely abandoned their friends, family, and lives for completely definitely is the number one game of 2011. The game followed Oblivion (4th installment of the series) and took completely took a different perspective on it giving it the edge is the number one game. A lot of people before Skyrim hadn't heard of the Elder Scrolls series but the game that was the biggest wish for most gamers on 11/11/11 truly delivered. Update 2/2/12: Skyrim is also arguably one of the best games of all-time: click here.

There you have it. The list of the top 11 games of 2011 and a few games that will also go in the record book as some of the greatest games of all-time. These games are all arguably some of the top 11, but many can also go under this list, this was just in my opinion some of the greatest. 

Very Busy People

I stumbled upon a song on my Spotify radio the other day. The song really just was one of those that you never heard of the artists, never have heard before, but you just loved and could play over and over again. The song was The Limousine's Very Busy People. The song was good, but the thing that really got to me was the lyrics. They honestly seemed to capture the way people are today and it really got me thinking. The lyrics can be found here: Very Busy People Lyrics. Usually I take time to review albums on my blog, but today I want to try something different. I want to analyze some of the lyrics of the song and take my time to explain my thoughts behind it.

We'll end up numb from playing video games
and we'll get sick of having sex.
And we'll get fat from eating candy;
as we drink ourselves to death.
We'll stay up late
mixing mix tapes,
photoshopping pictures of ourselves;
as we masterbate to these pixelated image
of strangers fucking themselves.
We are very busy people,
We are very busy people.


This part of the song really is funny in a true sort of the way. It's true how we catch ourselves doing a lot of these little things and then finding ourselves falling behind on other things. We often do all these things, when there is much more important things at hand but the fact that we enjoy doing these things means that we kind of neglect everything else.


We are very busy people,
We are very busy people;
But we've always got time for new friends.
So come on over and knock on our door,
it's open what you waiting for?
We may be sprawled out on the floor,
but we still make lovely company.


This part of the song makes really think about how we always say we're busy people, but when presented the opportunity to meet new people, party, and for the sake of the song get belligerently drunk, pass out, and do absolutely nothing, we will get rid of whatever is already occupying us to do these things.


We'll shoot the shit, 'bout everything,
till you get sick of politics,
and flip on the TV screen,
we stare at the TV screen.
That Donnie Darko DVD has been playing for a week,
and we know every single word.


This like much of the song, really exemplifies how we ignore the reality of the fact that there are better things that we should be doing but instead we're watching Donnie Darko 1000 times (which using Donnie Darko itself kind of has a duel meaning, with the fact that time is short, why not live it up while we can). 


I got an iPod like a pirate ship,
I'll sail the sea
with fifty thousand songs I never heard-
And all the best of them go
La la la la la la...
la la la la la la...


This part makes me laugh, because I probably have over 1000 songs on my iPod that I still haven't listened to. Regardless I didn't pirate that music (which is implied in the song, I got an iPod like a pirate ship). I feel that there is kind of a duel meaning here too when they say fifty thousand songs, because even with all these songs we'll never be content regardless we haven't listened to them all.


Overall, I feel that this song as catchy and great of a song says a lot about society. We'll always make excuses for being busy when we need to, but in reality we're doing nothing that will contribute in a positive way. The song really clicked with me because, well, I felt as a lot of this song was talking to me and about how lazy I can get when in reality I have a lot of things going on with school and with life.

Lesson 5: Your audience is always large, you never know who it'll effect.

"I don't think anyone ever gets over the surprise of how differently one audience's reaction is from another."-Dick Cavett

One thing journalists unconsciously do is create a story or something to be shared without thinking further beyond an audience. Yes, you do think about it early in the process, but with deadlines quickly approaching you tend to lose sight of the bigger picture, of who will be reading it and who it'll affect. A lot of stories (not all) can blow past this quite easily as they aren't as effective as other stories, but when you do get a feature story that is rather large, you always have to keep in mind an audience and the effect of it on a wide scale.

It seems kind of odd that you never really think about your audience until later in the process. Whenever I write a story, I tend to write out everything than worry about who it is intended too. I feel bad that I do this, but being a high school journalist its hard to think about audience throughout the whole process. Last year, I wrote a story about how a coach from another school in the district passed away, it was a hard enough story to write, but one thing I kept in my mind the whole time was who would be reading this? Of course, everybody at our school would be reading but the fact that it'd be extending out to the other school it was hard to imagine who would be reading it. It seems that the audience can truly slip your mind but you have to keep track on who you are writing for.

Along with just thinking about the audience inside the school, it's hard to think that parents are also the ones reading these stories. I know for a fact both my parents love the Friday's that we get our magazines out because they look forward to reading them. It doesn't really matter with smaller stories, but when you get feature stories and editorials that are debatable then you start to reconsider your options on what parents/teachers will see the story.

Overall, audience is a big part of any publication especially a newspaper and magazine. You truly never know how far out it'll extend and who will see your work and that is one thing you need to keep in your mind. Same goes for any work that you do even artistic, literature, and anything else. Always keep your audience in mind, no matter what it is.

Don't Forget the Soul Beat (Part 1)

As I mindlessly browsed Facebook and listened to my iPod a few days ago, a friend of mine posted a status such as: "Real rap music is dead...blah, blah, and more blah." I thought that it most certainly not, but that is definitely a story for another day. We then got into a discussion about "old-school hip-hop" and how the music definitely isn't the same. I would definitely be a voucher for that (regardless I don't believe it's dead) but one thing about hip-hop is that even though the lyricism may be watered down and a lot of things in the "game" have changed that one thing has always stayed the same, the quality of production that comes from sampled beats. I don't know what it is, but whenever I hear a sample of an older hip-hop song, a soul song in an older hip-hop song, or just something that has been reused, over and over again, I'm always so ecstatic, especially when I recognize the song. Sampling can also arguably as a bad art of music (especially if done badly, or done to a classic) and those are the times you have to look part sampling


For those unfamiliar with sampling: In music, sampling is the act of taking a portion, or sample, of one sound recording and reusing it as an instrument or a different sound recording of a song or piece. (Thank you Sampling Wikipedia)

Sampling is espcially prominent in the illegal art of mash-up music, something that I've been working a lot with lately and hopefully soon I will have a blog post about mashing, but for today lets focus on some of my favorite hip-hop/soul samples.

The Isley Brothers's Footsteps in the Dark vs Ice Cube's It Was a Good Day:



These two songs are two of my favorite songs that came out before I was even born but regardless are great songs. The hip-hop stylings of DJ Pooh produced which was one of the best hip-hop samples of all-time. The Isley Brothers nowadays in the hip-hop world are known for much of their music being sampled such as Notorious B.I.G's Big Papa (Sampled In Between the Sheets), Public Enemy's Fight the Power (Sampled Fight the Power), and well over 250 other songs (Click to see more).

Jay-z vs Bobby 'Blue' Bland, Ain't No Love in the Heart of the City.

You may have heard this song lately, on the new Chrysler commercials but Jay'z mad styling of Heart of a City, is one of the coolest and classical soul songs by Bobby Bland. Jay-z in this case took a song that was one hot song during its day and resurrected it with some hip-hop flavor. This is definitely one of my favorite samples of all-time.

Outkast's So Fresh, So Clean vs Joe Simon's Before the Night is Over

Ain't Nobody Dope as me...Okay, now this is one of the coolest samples ever. Outkast took one of the very simple elements of Joe Simon's classic song and made it their own flavorful creation, that definitely got everybody addicted to their song. The difference between these two songs are huge, but the sample between them is one of the coolest relationships in sampling ever.

There you have it! Part one of many to come apart of my favorite samples of all-time. Before I let you all go, I'd like to really thank a DJ I found on Youtube by the name of DJ Funktuall, where I found a lot of these samples. Be sure to check out his videos for more samples!

Gamer Craze: Top 11 Video Games of 2011(Part 1)

It's that time of year again. That time where entertainment rules all and one form of entertainment rises above the rest and dominates, video games. I've always been a gamer and have always accepted the fact that they are one of my primary forms of entertainment. I wouldn't say I'm a crazy gamer getting 24 days of playing time on one game in a two month span, but I'm still more of a gamer than most people. The holiday season is home to new stellar game releases that after the announcements of them leave us in a state of awe. The year of 2011 left us with more games that left us in more awe than every before and has really gone without saying on one of the best video game years ever. I always questioned why my favorite games were always released in the fall, but never more than this year where it seems like every game of any value that would illuminate the screen of my television connected to my Playstation 3 would play. Maybe it's the fact that gaming companies are trying to make a quick holiday buck, maybe it's the fact that E3 the biggest technological announcement time is the summer, or maybe it's just many contributing factors, but by the end of the day we all know where avid gamers of the world will be, parked in front of their TV or PC.

2011 has had one of the craziest years thus far in terms of video games, I've never seen so many games that I wanted being offered to us at once and it being 2011 I wish to release my top 11 games this year. It almost seems as every big name game that I've ever truly been addicted to has been released or is still being released in the coming weeks, but all I can say is that it is one of the biggest years in gaming ever. Here are my top 11 games and a little blurb about each:

Honorable Mention: NBA 2k12

Yes, it's a sports game. Generic reproductions year after year, and we all know the reputation of games like this. The 2k sports production team has found a way to make a game that is a boring old reproduction into something that is totally worth while. This year NBA 2k12 has added a mode in which it allows you to step back in time and play as retro ballers. The only downside of this new game is that the NBA is in a lockout and the rookie players aren't in the game, it's the NBA 2k11 version game, but with new modes. I don't own this game, but I've played it and it's enough to say that it's a good game, and one of the best ever 2k sports games with maybe the exception of last years game.

Honorable Mention: Madden 12

Another sports game? Yes, you might think I'm crazy right now but two sports games is all I'm going for right now. As a sports fan and a gamer, the Madden series is one that never tends to fall short of my favorites list. This year they completely revamped the physics of the game, and it is in my opinion the best Madden (since 05') in terms of game play yet. Madden 12 added a lot of new features to make it more enjoyable, even though it is a generic reproduction of a game previously released, it is still the best sports game this year and is definitely worth a buy (if you buy Madden 12, don't buy another Madden for the next 4-5 years, you'd only be wasting your money).

11. Saint's Row: The Third

What was originally thought of as the parody of Rockstar's Grand Theft Auto series, Saint's Row III has made more developments from the critically acclaimed sequel of 2008. Regardless the game is one of the largest games in terms of inappropriateness, it is a great game and once you get a little carried away can withstand in hours of endless fun.


10. The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword

Who doesn't love Zelda? After waiting almost four years since the Twilight Princess, the newest and sixteenth installment of the Legend of Zelda is as fun as any of the others. This game was only released on the Wii, but features a lot of great additions compared to the 2007 installment of the Twilight Princess. As the Wii slowly declines, Skyward Sword is an exceptional game on a declining system.

 9. Ultimate Marvel Vs Capcom 3

I've always been a big fan of super heroes, no matter what it'd be. Ultimate Marvel Vs Capcom 3 gives you that experience in an epic street fighter way. It's not every day you get these villains fighting against each other.  I've played Marvel Vs Capcom 3, which was released earlier this year and it is truly an entertaining game. The ultimate edition which was released on November 15, 2011 plans on having more entertainment than every before with new heroes in the game and new features. The best part about this game is that it's debut price is only $39.99, which is $20 less than most debuts. Thank you Capcom games.

8. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3

What is considered the most anticipated video game of all-time, really tops the leaderboards of one of the years top games. Modern Warefare 3 is the third installment in the Modern Warfare series, but has a general feel of the second installment. It is a step up from Modern Warfare 2, but doesn't exceed much more than that to push its way up the charts.

7. Battlefield 3

How unoriginal of me to put Battlefield 3 right after Call of Duty: MW3. Battlefield was the game to get everybody going in the right direction this year. It did outplay Modern Warfare 3 in several aspects, but not enough to completely dominate over it or even put it off the list. Both are great games, and both are very playable games (for hours at a time) but Battlefield 3 has the slight edge in the first person shooter column this year.

6. Portal 2

The follow-up to Portal was definitely one of the very best games of this year. The stunning graphics, the captivating puzzle-like game-play, and everything that made the original Portal great was put into P2. P2 also did something no game has done before in that it allowed the platform gamers to download the PC version through Steam for free, which is exactly how I know this game is good enough to be on this list (thank you to my friend who gave me their Steam account for this very reason).


 You have the top 11-6 with two reasonable mentions. These are just some of the top games in my opinion of 2011. Stay tuned for the top 5 games of 2011. What will take #1? Will it be the much anticipated The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim? or perhaps Arkham City, or will it be one of the best third installments of game ever in Uncharted III, stay tuned to find out! Thank you for tuning in.

January Preview: Changes

Happy New Years! It's a new year, but as Death Cab For Cutie says on the song The New Year, I truly don't feel any different. It's scary enough that 2012 is already here and for the cliche 2012 remark, well we only got 356 days to live! I want to say that I have endless amount of resolutions, but I found myself using pretty much the same one exact ones at 2011 that I went a year without going through with. I feel that I am the same procrastinator, the same ol' blogger, and the same old student I was in 2011. One thing I know that I've wanted to do is change that, it's a hard change but I'll attempt to the best that I can and I guess that's all I can really say about resolutions.
Anyway, with these new changes I have decided to change my blog. I haven't changed much I've just dropped the "lessons" and kept "In the newsroom". I'll still be blogging about my experiences in the newsroom, as well as anything going on in the news. I want to discuss more things in the media, rather than my personal life as a journalist, because well lessons are hard to write.

With January and Febuary on the way, I really don't know what I plan on writing, I guess I'll just write! Stay tuned.

As I bid you farwell for this blog post, I'll grant you with a great song to listen to that correlates to this blog post in some way, enjoy: