November 28th, 2008 -- Posted in Story |
A Hard Day’s Night was The Beatles 3rd album and it was released at the height of Beatlemania in 1964. It of course is also the name of the movie to which the album was a soundtrack. But this article is focused on the album itself.
In many ways, A Hard Day’s Night was the album that really established The Beatles as a real creative force. While their first two albums had almost as many covers (6) as originals (8), A Hard Day’s Night consisted of all original songs, and in fact it was the only album The Beatles ever released which contained only Lennon/McCartney originals. Another rather unique thing about the album is that Ringo Starr doesn’t sing lead on any of the tracks (the only other Beatles album where that’s true is Let It Be.)
But the album is not special merely because of a higher percentage of original songs, it’s also special because of the big step forward one can hear in those songs. Their compositions were quickly becoming more and more interesting.
The album included some huge hits like the title track and “Can’t Buy Me Love” which were #1 singles in the UK & the US but it also contained some more understated songs that in many ways are the true gems of the album. I’m talking about songs like “And I Love Her,” “Things We Said Today,” “I’ll Cry Instead,” & “If I Fell.”
The album’s quality level does drop off a bit towards the end, particularly with “When I Get Home” which is one of my least favorite Lennon/McCartney originals but “I’ll Be Back” ends the album on a high note.
A Hard Day’s Night is a great album to get if you want to hear The Beatles at their early pop peak. Of their first four albums it’s definitely the most essential.
CLICK HERE: The Beatles.
Retro Reviews: Classic Album Reviews.
November 27th, 2008 -- Posted in Story |
Last night I was sitting on a patio, having a conversation that I find myself having over and over again these days. This conversation is about eventually, one of the major movie studios is going to make a movie about hip hop that is going to be every bit as epic and high-concept as Ray or was, or any major biopic that got it right. Hip Hop is the most dominant force in pop culture since The Beatles. With so many people who have been so influential all packed into a relatively small area (the Bronx, Queens, and Brooklyn) at one time (the 80s and early 90s), it is inevitable that someone is going to make a movie about that place at that time. The question becomes which rapper is this movie going to be about?
It has just come to my attention that Fox Searchlight Pictures is, right now, making a Notorious B.I.G. movie. It is set for a 2009 release. It’s called Notorious and it is being directed by George Tillman Jr. I’ve watched a couple of the production’s video blogs and the people involved seem really determined to get it right. I’m excited, but trepidatious.
When Walk The Line came out, one of the failings of that movie, according to Johnny Cash fans I know, was the whole thing about Johnny Cash was his voice. Joaquin Phoenix doing Johnny’s voice just didn’t play with the true fans. It’s the same thing with Christopher Wallace. A big part of his appeal was his voice, especially in his manner of speaking. Can Jamal Woolard pull off B.I.G.’s distinctive timbre? I’m not even talking about the rapping, I just mean conversational speech.
As for the rest of the casting, it looks like they’ve got a bunch of people who can at least pull off the physical demands of their portrayals. I am especially intrigued with Antonique Smith as Faith Evans (and even just intrigued with the woman generally after seeing her in a Beatles t-shirt. Zowie!) Getting Angela Bassett for Biggie’s mom was a nice boon. Speaking of Ms. Bassett, whatever happened to the talk of Shakespeare’s Macbeth starring her and Laurence Fishburne?
New York Magazine has posted a review of the Notorious script and they are not hopeful. They think that the scope of the movie is too big. With Biggie’s managers and mother all involved, it might be a case of too many cooks spoiling the broth. Christopher Wallace means something very profound but different to each of them, and there’s no way to please everyone. I remember reading Spike Lee’s production journal for Malcolm X, and the trouble he had with all of the various interested parties who each had their own interest in how Malcolm was portrayed. But at the end of the day, Spike had to take all of their opinions under advisement but then go off and do his own thing. There is the potential for Notorious to play like Man In the Moon where it wasn’t a story so much as a re-enactment of a series of moments from the man’s life.
But I hope New York Magazine is wrong. I am a huge Biggie fan. I mean, HUGE. This is just about as exciting for me as it would be if they were making a Beatles movie. So now we wait, and we watch. We watch the production video blogs, we watch the press, and we watch to see if this movie lives up to B.I.G.’s legacy.
The Sean Ward Show – new video every week, with news and opinion on the weekend.
http://www.seanward.net
November 27th, 2008 -- Posted in Story |
There are hundreds of different kinds of musical instruments in the world. Some of the basic instruments can be made at home while others have to be made professionally. In some cases, homemade musical instruments can be an excellent business venture if the knowledge and expertise has been passed down from ancestors. For some it may be for solely recreational purposes while others may indulge in it for artistic reasons. Children may also get involved in making musical instruments at an early age. This is usually introduced in craft classes at schools or at holiday camps through vocational training.
Learning how to make musical instruments is a process that requires a lot of practice unless it is just for fun. By using materials that are easily available at home or in the market, musical instruments can be made. Old pots and pans can be used as drums and old wooden spoons as drumsticks. A coconut cut in two, with the coconut meat removed, can be used as musical clappers. Old plastic drink bottles and containers filled with dried beans, dried corn, or rice can be used as bottle shakers. Glass bottle xylophones can be made at home by filling old glasses or bottles with different amount of colored water and using spoons or lead pencils to tap the containers to create a new musical tune. Old pieces of dowling cut into shorter sticks and painted can be used as rhythm or lumi sticks. Simply using an empty coffee can or oatmeal box painted or covered with contact paper can be used as drums. Stringing three to four bells onto a large pipe cleaner can make wrist bells. This pipe cleaner can be twisted around the wrist.
These homemade musical instruments can be left plain or decorated. Musical instruments can be decorated with a combination of buttons and glitter or sequins and yarn. Materials such as ribbons, beads, sand, cellophane, crayons, markers, paint, nail polish, construction paper etc are other decorative items. Hence, making musical instruments at home is a fairly simple and enjoyable activity but requires some amount of creativity.
Musical Instruments provides detailed information on Musical Instrument, Musical Instrument Stores, Musical Instrument Dealers, Pictures Of Musical Instruments and more. Musical Instruments is affiliated with Rock Music Code.
November 26th, 2008 -- Posted in Story |
50 Cent, of his real name Curtis Jackson, is an American rapper born in the Queens of New York, July 6 1978.
The origin of his pseudonym, 50 Cent, comes from a New York gangster. When rapper 50 Cent was 8 years old, his mother dies, his father abandons him and rapper 50 Cent begins to sell cocaine to survive, while rapper 50 Cent was brought up by his grand mother. Despite this difficult childhood, rapper 50 Cent hopes to one day have the money and the glory that he has always dream as a rapper.
After a few forth and back in jail, it is 1996 that rapper 50 Cent meets Jam Master Jay of group Run DMC which label is JMJ Records. But the association with Jam Master Jay didn’t last, what is more rapper 50 Cent agreed with another label Trackmasters, already known in New York as a powerful label and having already worked with artists such as NAS or Jay-Z. Label Trackmasters signs rapper 50 Cent, who prepares his first album Power Of The $, with Columbia Records in 1999.
There are some rapper 50 Cent singles with success such as: « Your Life’s on the Line » and « How to Rob». Because of this last single, rapper 50 Cent was almost dead in front of the house of his grand parents in Mai 2000, people shot at him 9 times, and 3 bullets hit him, one in his hand, one in his back and the last one in his face, without physical damages but would have given rapper 50 Cent his style of voice. rapper 50 Cent still keeps sequels of this attack. However, a number of rappers hardly believe him.
Columbia Records, who was about to release rapper 50 Cent album, gives up. The two following years, rapper 50 Cent sets up his own group G-Unit with Tony Yayo as well as Lloyd Banks, two artists with whom rapper 50 Cent will perform in freestyle and mixtapes and afterwards, when Tony Yayo goes in jail, Young Buck joins the group.
In 2002, rapper 50 Cent meets Eminem, who, after listening to some mixtapes of the artist, immediately signs him at Shady/Aftermath (Label of Eminem and Dr. Dre). His first success is the single “Wanksta” which was on the original soundtrack of film 8 Mile.
In 2003, rapper 50 Cent releases his first LP with label Shady/Aftermath, with songs such as “P.I.M.P”, “In Da Club” or “21 Questions”. The success is instant: 800 000 sales the first week. It is also the biggest success of 2003 with nearly 12 million copies sold. The same year, rapper 50 Cent releases his first LP with his group G-Unit, the album Beg For Mercy. Once again the success is there. In 2005, rapper 50 Cent follows with his second LP with Shady/Aftermath, The Massacre, 1,14 million albums are sold in 4 days. It is the sixth best performance of sales ever. Rapper 50 Cent also establishes another record (like the Beatles) with 4 singles in the top 10 sales. The rapper 50 Cent albums are sold at more than 8 million copies.
Rapper 50 Cent then creates his own clothing line named like his group: G-Unit Clothing, signs contracts with Reebok and other brands and set up his own production label, G-Unit Records. In 2006, is released the film about his own life and of same name as his first album with Shady/Aftermath, “Get Rich Or Die Tryin’”. Despite a certain success with the public, this film has been found several weeks in the top 50 of the worse films noted by site IMDB.
Rapper 50 Cent has had a child before becoming famous between two stays in jail, which gives him the wish to stop dealing cocaine and to invest himself in rap music. Rapper 50 Cent has had a relationship with actress Vivica A. Fox. But she was so jealous of the other girls that were around rapper 50 Cent, especially in his video clips, that she leaves rapper 50 Cent.
Rapper 50 Cent counts today as many fans that as many enemies. Indeed, his rap is the object of numerous critics. The real hip hop fans found rapper 50 Cent too commercial, because most of his sounds are made for the clubs, and his rhymes are more and more easy. What is more, rapper 50 Cent put some rappers back, especially New Yorkers: Jadakiss, Ja Rule, Fat Joe, Nas, Sheek Louch and Styles P. Rapper 50 Cent doesn’t hesitate to provoke and criticize them in his titles such as “Piggy Bank” from album “The Massacre” (2005). His power and his notoriety allowed rapper 50 Cent to compromise the career of rapper Ja Rule, with whom rapper 50 Cent was in serious conflict.
Since a few months, rapper 50 Cent is in conflict with rapper The Game (Los Angeles), protected by Dr. Dre.
The situation is therefore very complicated, it is one of the very few times that two artists from the same labels are in open conflict. The 2 rappers have collaborated together in the past and they have even sold quite a bit of their singles « How We Do » and « Hate It Or Love It ». The Game has denied on the radio that 50 Cent has contributed to the success of its album “The Documentary” (2005) while according to rapper 50 Cent, it is thanks to him that the album did sales.
Despite all these problems, rapper 50 Cent can still count on a good number of producers such as Dr. Dre, Cool & Dre, Scott Storch, Eminem, and Havoc, with whom rapper 50 Cent entertains good relationships. The rapper from the Queens has also many friends in the rap since he kept signing talents like on his label G-Unit records, which has in no time become very big. As a result, rapper 50 Cent has already signed and collaborated with Mobb Deep, M.O.P., Ma$e, Spider Loc, R&B singer Olivia… Finally rapper 50 Cent still entertains good, not to say very good relations with Lloyd Banks, Tony Yayo and Young Buck (the 3 initial members of G-Unit), as well as with Jay-Z and Missy Elliott. Rapper 50 Cent belongs to the Crips, a street gang present in Los Angeles, and a little bit everywhere in North America.
If you are a rapper 50 Cent fan and love to listen to rapper 50 Cent, then you can customize your cell phone by downloading rapper 50 Cent ringtones. Ringtone Jam Jam Famous Singers has it all: 50 Cent music, 50 Cent lyrics, 50 Cent pictures, 50 Cent videos, 50 Cent songs, 50 Cent g unit, 50 Cent wallpapers, 50 Cent news, 50 Cent album, 50 Cent biography, , 50 Cent posters, 50 Cent movies and 50 Cent ringtones.
November 25th, 2008 -- Posted in Story |
Last night I was sitting on a patio, having a conversation that I find myself having over and over again these days. This conversation is about eventually, one of the major movie studios is going to make a movie about hip hop that is going to be every bit as epic and high-concept as Ray or was, or any major biopic that got it right. Hip Hop is the most dominant force in pop culture since The Beatles. With so many people who have been so influential all packed into a relatively small area (the Bronx, Queens, and Brooklyn) at one time (the 80s and early 90s), it is inevitable that someone is going to make a movie about that place at that time. The question becomes which rapper is this movie going to be about?
It has just come to my attention that Fox Searchlight Pictures is, right now, making a Notorious B.I.G. movie. It is set for a 2009 release. It’s called Notorious and it is being directed by George Tillman Jr. I’ve watched a couple of the production’s video blogs and the people involved seem really determined to get it right. I’m excited, but trepidatious.
When Walk The Line came out, one of the failings of that movie, according to Johnny Cash fans I know, was the whole thing about Johnny Cash was his voice. Joaquin Phoenix doing Johnny’s voice just didn’t play with the true fans. It’s the same thing with Christopher Wallace. A big part of his appeal was his voice, especially in his manner of speaking. Can Jamal Woolard pull off B.I.G.’s distinctive timbre? I’m not even talking about the rapping, I just mean conversational speech.
As for the rest of the casting, it looks like they’ve got a bunch of people who can at least pull off the physical demands of their portrayals. I am especially intrigued with Antonique Smith as Faith Evans (and even just intrigued with the woman generally after seeing her in a Beatles t-shirt. Zowie!) Getting Angela Bassett for Biggie’s mom was a nice boon. Speaking of Ms. Bassett, whatever happened to the talk of Shakespeare’s Macbeth starring her and Laurence Fishburne?
New York Magazine has posted a review of the Notorious script and they are not hopeful. They think that the scope of the movie is too big. With Biggie’s managers and mother all involved, it might be a case of too many cooks spoiling the broth. Christopher Wallace means something very profound but different to each of them, and there’s no way to please everyone. I remember reading Spike Lee’s production journal for Malcolm X, and the trouble he had with all of the various interested parties who each had their own interest in how Malcolm was portrayed. But at the end of the day, Spike had to take all of their opinions under advisement but then go off and do his own thing. There is the potential for Notorious to play like Man In the Moon where it wasn’t a story so much as a re-enactment of a series of moments from the man’s life.
But I hope New York Magazine is wrong. I am a huge Biggie fan. I mean, HUGE. This is just about as exciting for me as it would be if they were making a Beatles movie. So now we wait, and we watch. We watch the production video blogs, we watch the press, and we watch to see if this movie lives up to B.I.G.’s legacy.
The Sean Ward Show – new video every week, with news and opinion on the weekend.
http://www.seanward.net
November 24th, 2008 -- Posted in Story |
Buying used musical instruments has advantages and disadvantages. For instance, a good quality instrument can be found at a lower price than when compared with buying a new one. On the other hand, there is always an element of risk involved when buying a used musical instrument. Another difficulty is that there are no warranties associated with used instruments, unless the instrument is fairly new. When purchasing a used musical instrument, it is advisable to keep some of these things in mind.
A good way to determine a used instrument’s condition is to know who owned it in the past. If buying the instrument from a garage sale, it may be possible to meet the owner and ask him how long he used it and why it is being sold. If buying it online, make sure that the online shop has a good customer satisfaction rating, or better still, a return policy. There are several Web sites that have attractive and colorful pictures of musical instruments that they are selling. They also feature exhaustive information about the products. Having these pictures helps the buyer to make a better choice when ordering the instrument. Pictures are especially useful for locating a particular kind or rare kinds of musical instruments. If buying it from a music store, ask the salesperson if it is possible to know the name of its previous owner, how long it has been in the store, and other such details.
When buying a used instrument, it is advisable to be accompanied by someone who has a good knowledge of musical instruments. They can help decide whether the instrument is in a good condition by playing it and listening to how it sounds and how it feels while playing it. These things will help decide if the instrument is worth purchasing or not. Research all aspects of the instrument before purchasing it. Find out how much a brand new one costs by going to different music stores. Then compare the prices and the condition of the instruments and decide whether it is a good deal. When the final purchase decision is made, make sure that the money being paid for it is worth it.
Musical Instruments provides detailed information on Musical Instrument, Musical Instrument Stores, Musical Instrument Dealers, Pictures Of Musical Instruments and more. Musical Instruments is affiliated with Rock Music Code.
November 22nd, 2008 -- Posted in Story |
Buying used musical instruments has advantages and disadvantages. For instance, a good quality instrument can be found at a lower price than when compared with buying a new one. On the other hand, there is always an element of risk involved when buying a used musical instrument. Another difficulty is that there are no warranties associated with used instruments, unless the instrument is fairly new. When purchasing a used musical instrument, it is advisable to keep some of these things in mind.
A good way to determine a used instrument’s condition is to know who owned it in the past. If buying the instrument from a garage sale, it may be possible to meet the owner and ask him how long he used it and why it is being sold. If buying it online, make sure that the online shop has a good customer satisfaction rating, or better still, a return policy. There are several Web sites that have attractive and colorful pictures of musical instruments that they are selling. They also feature exhaustive information about the products. Having these pictures helps the buyer to make a better choice when ordering the instrument. Pictures are especially useful for locating a particular kind or rare kinds of musical instruments. If buying it from a music store, ask the salesperson if it is possible to know the name of its previous owner, how long it has been in the store, and other such details.
When buying a used instrument, it is advisable to be accompanied by someone who has a good knowledge of musical instruments. They can help decide whether the instrument is in a good condition by playing it and listening to how it sounds and how it feels while playing it. These things will help decide if the instrument is worth purchasing or not. Research all aspects of the instrument before purchasing it. Find out how much a brand new one costs by going to different music stores. Then compare the prices and the condition of the instruments and decide whether it is a good deal. When the final purchase decision is made, make sure that the money being paid for it is worth it.
Musical Instruments provides detailed information on Musical Instrument, Musical Instrument Stores, Musical Instrument Dealers, Pictures Of Musical Instruments and more. Musical Instruments is affiliated with Rock Music Code.
November 21st, 2008 -- Posted in Story |
Before you embark on the latest quick weight loss program, you need to understand a few things about your goals and reasons for wanting to lose weight in the first place. I know that may seem like a stupid statement, but it’s not if you take a few minutes just to think about it.
What are your weight loss goals? Do you want to lose 10 pounds or 100? Perhaps you just want to drop a dress size or two while you help your over weight partner lose a significant amount of weight. It’s important to look at the reasons why you or members of your family want to lose weight; your answer will have a lot to do with your motivation to start and, more important to stay the course with your new way of eating.
With your quick weight loss goals in hand, there are a few things you need to know about diets in general that will have a profound impact on your success, or failure, in losing weight.
Most Diets Don’t Work
Most diets leave you feeling hungry, weak and deprived. You stagger through the day with a grumbling stomach, but sooner or later you cave in and order a pizza with double cheese. Feeling perpetually hungry is the primary reason that people give up on their diet.
The diet is too complicated and time-consuming to follow. You spend each day weighing and measuring food, calculating carbs or calories and keeping food diaries. Perhaps this is fun initially, but then it all just becomes a burden. You’re too busy to follow a diet that feels more like a math exam.
You feel bad. Many diets cut out essential nutrients, leaving you feeling lethargic, lacking energy and concerned about your health. Is it little wonder people give up?
Why Have We Become So Fat?
Around 43% of men and 33% of women are overweight, and an additional 22% of men and 23% of women are obese (and these figures are rising all the time). In the last decade the percentage of adults who are obese has increased by over 50%.The rate of increase in obesity in children is even worse. So what’s happening to us? Why, in a relatively short time, have we gained so much weight?
It’s not as if we lack awareness of weight issues. There are shelves full of books and racks of magazines with cover stories on diets and fitness regimens. The media have latched onto the ‘obesity epidemic’ with a fervor – fat is big news these days.
The answer to our collective weight crisis is simple: we’re consuming more calories than we’re expending, and the resulting surplus is stored around our waists, hips and thighs as fat. (Maybe it’s found a nice spot on your upper arms, too.)
There’s no mystery here. But to understand why we seem to be consuming more calories, we need to get back to basics and look at the three fundamental elements of our diet: carbohydrates, fats and proteins.
I’m sure you’ve heard about these characters. We need to understand how they work together, whether we’re in the process of getting fat or thin, and the role they play in our digestive system.
Only when you understand how these factors and how your body works, will you be able to succeed on your quick weight loss program once and for all.
For many years the government’s stance on quick weight loss programs has been to follow a low fat diet. Yet for the last 2 decades the obesity rate has increased dramatically. People who have decided to take their health into their own hands and follow a low carb easy weight loss program have started to see the rewards for their efforts. Should you do the same?
November 20th, 2008 -- Posted in Story |
Of course this means that all of the people that bought into the trend will be stuck with the “bling” that they spent their good money on but they won’t be able to wear it because it will be soon outdated. Contemporary jewelry designs are now making a big come back just for this reason, because the fact is that they just never go out of style.
This is why buying contemporary jewelry is an investment that you can count on staying with you for decades to come. For instance, pearls in the form of necklaces and earrings are two example of contemporary jewelry that have been with us for countless generations and have never gone out of style and never will.
This is why so many modern jewelry designers are falling back on contemporary designs for inspiration when designing new creations even today. The great news is that contemporary jewelry has become more affordable then ever before for a number of reasons.
The first good reason is that it is just starting to take hold in the fashion world, so you don’t have to pay a huge “fad tax” that has to be paid on overpriced jewelry when it is the latest style. The second reason that contemporary jewelery is such a great bargain now is that there are far more choices of it in ultra-affordable gold plate.
Unlike “bling” gold jewelry that was sold “by the pound” modern contemporary jewelry is sold by the “design” which matters a lot. With the recent resurgence of contemporary jewelry designers are discovering that “creative design” now matters more than it has in the past couple of decades which is good news for everyone.
Written by Stella Jussen. Find the latest information on Contemporary Jewelry
November 18th, 2008 -- Posted in Story |
Every woman, no matter what age, will reach a point where we get tired of our everyday routine hairstyle and are looking for some change to spruce up our current look. The first idea that comes to mind usually is changing lengths, either from shorter to longer or longer to shorter hair lengths. This can be risky but rewarding if the proper hairstyle can be found to match. The second idea that most women take is different coloring, say like from brunette to blonde or vice versa. This change is more permanent and the result may not be as pleasing as we thought. This is where layered hairstyles can play a huge part by providing totally different yet gorgeous looks with some minor alterations in hair length and even some streaks.
Layered hairstyles have become more and more popular because they provide a classy, beautiful look with minimal change. Well we shouldn’t say minimal because layered hairstyles do require a cut and possible some color highlights to enhance other features. With layering, there is not a major change in hair length and there are so many ways to layer the hair with highlights or adding curls, waves, or ringlets. Because the amount and length of layering can be changed; there are a number of hot looks available for different face shapes.
Another feature that makes layered hairstyles so versatile is the addition of highlights that enhance the whole hairstyle. For blond and light hair colors, adding darker complimentary colors can make the hairstyle even more prominent while adding lighter complimentary colors to darker shades of hair will have the same performance as well. A key guide to highlighting layered hairstyles can be found in the many looks of Jennifer Anniston. By looking at her layered hairstyles, the different colors of highlights and how to streak them to match perfectly can be clearly seen. Adding highlights can enhance any hairstyle but can also have the opposite effect if not done with the right colors or with too much highlighting in the wrong sections.
Some key celebrity examples include Heather Locklear and her oval shaped face, which is goes well with most hairstyles, which have made every length of layered hairstyles look fantastic and the ever popular Jessica Simpson, who is a great mold for woman with medium or long hairstyles wanting some layering. There are an abundance of different layered hairstyles to copy from just from the many looks provided by the celebrities as every single one of them probably has worn a layered hairstyle. There is also an abundance more. The few listed below are just a small portion of the many looks possible with layered hairstyles.
The simple look layered hairstyle
This is look is great for everyday life as well as any party occasion as it is a very simple look. This layered hairstyle consist of long or medium layered hair that is cut more evenly across with slight layering. The bangs are combed straight down along with the layered sections of hair for a very simple, beautiful look. This layered hairstyle can be found in many of Hilary Duff’s or Lisa Kudrow’s images.
The short layered hairstyle
There are a selection of short layered hairstyle to choose form depending on just how short the hair length is. For hair length that goes a little past the chin, a layered hairstyle like Reese Witherspoon from ‘Sweet Home Alabama’ is perfect. For those who have not see her short layered hairstyle in the movie, the look is layered towards the back and the hair is parted in the middle. The look provides both a simple everyday look as well as a hot look for any gala.
Cindy Marcus is the editor of Latest-Hairstyles.com, a popular hairstyles resource site that provides tips and resources for new style ideas. For more ideas on layered hairstyles, visit Cindy’s web site today.
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