And That’s Shakespeare: Episode 4 – A Midsummer Night’s Dream

Road, show

Yesterday some friends and I drove to Richmond to see some bands play at a local bar. I hadn’t heard of any of the bands before – this was all on recommendation from my friend Dean, the guy who drove us there. But I’ve never really been to Richmond, and road trips and music are fun, so I was pretty excited about it all. The road trip to Richmond was more or less uneventful, except for the part where an eighteen-wheeler trying to pass on the left almost smashed right into us, and Dean swerved into the shoulder just in time.

The show was in a bar called the Camel. As we walked up to the door I noticed a small group of some species of hipster sitting outside, petting large dogs and looking generally disheveled. I’m not sure what they were doing there, but they looked like some kind of sideshow. When we went inside the bouncer drew large black X’s on my hands to distinguish me as underage, and therefore not eligible for alcohol. It was pretty clear you could just wash them off in the bathroom, but I didn’t bother.

The first guys to play called themselves the Amateur Thieves. They were enthusiastic, but somewhat off-key, and sounded a little bit like a wilder version of the Jonas Brothers. Thieves less obnoxious than Jonases, it goes without saying (and granted I haven’t really heard much of either group), but they still had that bright, almost happy-sounding attempt at being intense. The middle-schoolers attempting a mosh pit up by the stage probably didn’t help that impression. The lead singer thanked his mom and dad for coming to their show, which also probably didn’t help.

Next were these guys called the Max Levine Ensemble. They’re from D.C., which is very close to my hometown, so I liked them already. They had a cool sound, and they were pretty passionate about their songs. Lots of people like to explain what their songs are about before playing them, but the singer went pretty much all out to this end. Toward the end of the set he introduced a song about sexism, or something to that effect, and gave us quite a long, progressively more impassioned, tirade about how “patriarchy…it’s like, a real thing, out there.” Then they played the song, hard.

Third was Mischief Brew, who I thought were pretty great. These guys had a lot of fans, and I felt a little out of place not screaming along like almost everyone else in attendance. High Celtic influence punk-type stuff, but actually I think that’s pretty common. They probably listen to a lot of Dropkick Murphys or something. The room was really busy by this time, and it was almost impossible not to get sucked into the swirling mass of human bodies shouting and flailing in the center. It was way more exciting than either of the preceding bands. Their frontman had a pretty great stage presence and even never having heard them before, watching them was a load of fun.

Then came World/Inferno Friendship Society. According to Dean, these guys are “really fucking awesome” and were the whole reason we drove out to Richmond in the first place. When these guys came on, I was suddenly aware of just how wise it had been to buy tickets online, ahead of time. The room was packed with fans. And these are serious fans we’re talking about – they knew every song word for word and intuited which ones would be played next. I figured out eventually that a lot of these people had actually come to Richmond from Pennsylvania, just following the band. A lot of people, Dean among them, turned up dressed in Oxford shirts, slacks, and ties, which I’m told is a kind of fan tradition after the dressed-up style of WIFS’s lead singer, this balding but very witty guy called Jack. The hipster sideshow I had seen sitting outside (and still sitting outside, apparently, at this point) did not compare to the traveling circus appearance of World/Inferno Friendship Society.

By the way, I think it’s some kind of rule that bands include a tall, thin guy, a kind of stocky (possibly bearded) guy, and a rather strange drummer. This was at least the rule for everyone playing at the Camel yesterday.

The music was catchy and lyrically fun and damn entertaining. All of WIFS’s people are charismatic on stage, although the attention is pretty much all Jack’s. The audience was pretty much the largest group of completely ecstatic people I’ve ever seen in one place. It was rousing good fun. Some guy grabbed my arm and swung me into the throbbing crowd to dance; not dancing apparently not allowed. The music was fun and lyrically clever, although really I’m probably going to like any group with an electric violinist, and upbeat: not frantically, but it had a sense of being barely controlled. The music is not really what I would listen to just to listen to music, or use in a soundtrack, or anything like that: I get the sense these guys are much better live than on a recording, although their music is cool either way.

They closed their set, left the stage, and came back for a two-song encore. The first they played for a newlywed couple at the show, who apparently got engaged at a previous World/Inferno show. The second was “Only Anarchists Are Pretty,” which is, I’m told, a World/Inferno classic. A pretty fair assumption, judging by the level of audience participation.

I finally managed to locate Dean as the crowd slowly vacated the bar. “We’re gonna hang around a bit,” he said. “I have to make sure I’m not still bleeding.” Someone kicked him in the head while crowd-surfing, or something like that. I’m not exactly sure.

The way home was uneventful, too, except for the part where we sailed down a dark, curving backroad, the only car in sight, the sounds of night woods and wind resistance coming in through the open windows (probably an apt diversion for any driver named Dean). It made me nostalgic for the times I used to have a car. We got back to Williamsburg late and tired and with early classes awaiting, but it was probably the most fun Wednesday night I’ve had in a long time. Give World/Inferno Friendship Society a listen, and Mischief Brew as well, and take a long, late drive to a different city one of these days.

Fairy Tales

Hello everyone! Sorry about the unexpected absence last Wednesday (’twas unexpected for me as well. The sad truth is, I’d forgotten the uncomfortably vast number of Things That Demanded To Be Done and found myself unable to blog. Am bowing my head in shame/humiliation. Please forgive me!)

At any rate, lately I have been thinking a good deal about fairy tales. By “fairy tales” I don’t mean stories exclusively about fairies and other sorts of magical creatures. I’m talking about simple little stories that are a way of understanding something about the world — so that includes mythology (with its thunderbolts and clear-cut explanations of natural phenomena), folklore (with its sly foxes and rather rigid moral systems), and what I’ve learned to call Wonder Tales (with their enchanted forests and terrifying warnings against bad deeds.)

Basically, since reacquainting myself with them in my Russian Mythology class, I’ve become addicted to these kinds of stories. And I’m trying to suss out why.

They aren’t exactly kind, these stories. Things happen in them. Enchanted keys are lost and people are forced to open doors with bones from their own hands. Red-hot shoes curse you to dance in them until you die of exhaustion. Your brothers might all be turned into swans by your evil stepmother, and you might have to make shirts out of nettles and not speak for years in order to rescue them. (That always seemed like the worst one to me. I’ve lived in England. I know what nettles are like. If one brushes your ankle it’s hell, for heaven’s sake.)

Good things can happen too, though. If you’re the youngest of three girls, for example, there’s a fairly safe bet you’re going to end up safe and happy and married to a handsome prince by the story’s end. Or you might go out adventuring and return with a phoenix, a golden horse, a dazzlingly pretty bride and innumerable riches to boot. Perhaps you’ll do an old woman a good turn at a well and have diamonds falling from your lips whenever you speak. (Though that always seemed like it would be a pain to me.)

As harsh (or unrealistically not-harsh) as all this can be, I think the charm in fairy tales comes from this kind of severity of fortune. Good people get good things, bad people get bad things, and… well, that’s that, really. There’s no grey area. There’s no in-between. Sometimes people do switch from one to the other, but when they do, they switch completely — there are no Professor Snapes in the fairytale world. And I think that’s what makes them so attractive, as much as people like the Professor Snapes of literature (who are, of course, attractive in a different way from fairy tales — a more modern, progressive way, I think.)

If there’s no grey area, no space between the right and the wrong thing to do, you can’t do anything wrong, can you, unless you really mean to do wrong, right? When the evil stepmother’s ugly eldest daughter talks unkindly to the woman at the well, we know she’s in for it because her behavior is so deplorable. And we think the same way about the woodcutter’s beautiful young daughter, who offers the old crone bread and and a friendly greeting — she’s bound to get good things in exchange, isn’t she? And it’s so lovely to think about life in this way, if only for as long as we’re reading fairytales. Imagining that life could work this way — that navigating it could be as simple as an insult or a small piece of bread — is an incredibly comforting thought.

And we know, of course, that this isn’t a logical way to think, and that this isn’t true. But fairytales do offer us a temporary escape, and they give us a kind of hope and general feeling of goodwill that other stories don’t. And the qualities that their characters encompass — love, courage, loyalty, kindness, modesty, generosity, honesty and so many others — are qualities that help us (even if we don’t have them in buckets and spades, the way Vassilisa the Wise does.)

And I think that’s a good thing. And so I think reading fairy tales is a good thing. A beautiful thing, in fact.

Podcast and Article: Best and Worst Songs of 2011

So, I was talking to my friend Brendan on Skype the other day about one of my favorite internet reviewers, Todd in the Shadows. If you don’t know of him, go ahead and check him out. It’s okay, I’ll wait.

…

Isn’t he hilarious? He’s one of my favorite reviewers on TGWTG because he reviews things nearly everyone knows: pop music.

Whether we want to admit it or not, the Billboard Hot 100 still matters, and honestly, it should. I know, I’m a rock music guy, and I should be offended that my favorite genre barely makes a dent in current music culture, but believe it or not, I have a great appreciation for pop music (the credit for which goes mostly to my wonderful girlfriend, who basically stockholm syndromed me until my love for it came naturally), and I tend to like more songs on the end of the year list than I dislike.

Now, Brendan and I decided to make our own end of the year lists (note: all songs came from the Billboard Hot 100 end of the year list, meaning that regardless of what you were listening to, more people were listening to the songs on these lists) and compare. For our least favorite songs, we podcasted. Who are our most hated artists? Can two people with very distinct tastes in music find common ground when deciding our sworn enemies? Listen below and find out (For those of you who just want to see the list, I’ll post it below the article with youtube links):

But, you might ask, what about the good pop music? Yes, there was plenty to love in pop music in 2011; far more, in fact than in 2010. Below, Brendan and I have listed our top ten songs of 2011, along with some explanation as to why we love these particular songs. Brendan’s list comes first, followed by my own. Have a different opinion? Please feel free to sound off in the comments below:

Brendan:

Before my bud Chase shows you my list, there’s one thing that you should know about me: I’m an absolute whore for dance music. If you’re looking for an exploration of the pop songs that make you feel, that cause you to muse upon the meaning of life, this is probably not going to be your list. However, if you’re looking for songs with great hooks, sometimes questionable vocals, and heart-throbbing beats, then look no further than here.


10. Moves Like Jagger by Maroon 5 feat. Christina Aguilera: The whistled hook at the beginning, the playful guitar strums, the combination of two of pop music’s better singers: this song was destined to be a hit. Once it’s stuck in your head, it will probably never leave.

 9.  Rolling in the Deep by Adele: I would be an idiot to not put this song’s Record and Song of the Year on my list. Full of righteous fury and accompanied by Adele’s soulful wailings, this song speaks to the rage and heartbreak all of us have experienced at some point.

      8. Where Them Girls At by David Guetta feat. Flo Rida and Nicki Minaj: This song’s filthy beats and the crazy verses spitten out by Nicki make this song an instant win in my book.

  7. S&M by Rihanna: Like Kylie’s sultry “La la la”s in Can’t Get You Out of My Head, this song’s opening “Na na na come on” instantly snatches you into the song. However, unlike the former’s promise of melancholy love, this opening snatches the listener to a world of carnal pleasure (and pain).

              6.   In the Dark by Dev: This year has seen the return of the saxophone to pop, used in songs by pop powerhouses such as Katy Perry and Lady Gaga. However, nowhere has it been more seductive than in this sultry dance hit.

           5.   Till the World Ends by Britney Spears: When you mention the names Britney Spears and Ke$ha in the same sentence, it’s often done with a measure of disgust. However, their collaboration produced one of the strongest pop hits of the year, with an irresistible beat and a chorus that simply begs for a drunken crowd singing along to it.

      4. On the Floor by Jennifer Lopez feat. Pitbull: This song easily has the most pathetic lyrics that I’ve ever seen. However, with a killer tune and RedOne’s infectious production, I just can’t stop listening to it.

      3. Super Bass by Nicki Minaj: Playful and sure to bounce around in your head all day, this song is almost singlehandedly responsible for bringing Nicki to a larger audience. While it’s admittedly fluff, it’s insanely fun and is currently the only rap song of which I know the entire first verse.

      2. Hold It Against Me by Britney Spears: This is the song that heralded the return of pop’s wayward princess. Exploring newer dance and electronic influences, such as dubstep, it’s one of the best produced singles of the year and proved that Britney is still a very important player in the pop world.

      1. We Found Love by Rihanna ft. Calvin Harris: I love everything about this song. I love Rihanna’s soaring vocals, Calvin Harris’s beautifully melancholy production, and the music video showing the destruction of a once happy relationship. It makes me want to dance and cling to friends for comfort, to celebrate love gained and mourn for love lost. This song deserved its place as 2011’s longest running number one single, and while it may not be everyone’s favorite, it certainly is mine.

   Chase:

Since Brendan did an introduction (so fancy), I guess I should too. I listen to pop music very differently than he (and most of my friends, for that matter) do. I actually care about the lyrics. I care about the quality of the singer and the voice as much as I care about the beat. I don’t think you can ever quite nail it down (I’m not putting lyrical skill over sounding fun or anything like that), but I guess if I had to explain it in brief, I’d say I’m always in support of the type of music that pushes the music in a new direction or does what the current direction is doing flawlessly. There’s a lot of pop music out there, so why not be picky about what it is you want to hear? With that (somewhat confusing) introduction out of the way, here’s my list.

10. You Make Me Feel… by Cobra Starship ft. Sabi: Now, when Cobra Starship first hit it big with “Good Girls Go Bad“, I didn’t get what the big deal was. Then I watched the video, and I instantly fell in love with these guys. Why? Because they’re nerds! This is nerd fulfillment fantasies in their greatest extent. They can’t make good girls go bad, or even make regular girls feel “la la la la la”, they’re dorks and they know it, and this aspect of their personality gives them a charm that transcends the well-produced music and vocals that are above the norm for pop music. A great song by a band I’m hoping to see more from in the future.

9. 6 Foot, 7 Foot by Lil’ Wayne ft. Cory Gunz: I’ve been accused of being a Lil’ Wayne hater in the past, and that’s just not true. I just find him inconsistent when it comes to the quality of his music. For every song of his I like, there’s another hit that seems asinine. But when he shines, he can use his unique voice and rapping skills to accomplish something pretty great, as seen in 6 Foot, 7 Foot. His clever wordplay really shines as he actually backs up all the bragging he does with skill. Lil’ Wayne at his finest deserves to make anyone’s top ten list, as far as I’m concerned.

8. The Show Goes On by Lupe Fiasco: Lupe Fiasco is one of the few great mainstream(ish) rappers nowadays.  He’s been an underground rapper for a long time, and he deserves all the credit he gets for those who see him as one of the few beacons of rap music in a day and age where hip hop has been rather lacking in people that can keep making quality albums (We’ll call the Bad Meets Evil reunion a wash, Eminem, but I need to see more consistency before I give you your throne back). This isn’t his best work, but it’s easily his most popular, and Lupe Fiasco on a bad day is still better than most rappers at their best. It’s a triumphant, fun song, and you can’t help but get lost in it. A great song by a great artist.

7. Stereo Hearts by Gym Class Heroes ft. Adam Levine: I told Brendan I wouldn’t comment on his list, and I won’t as a general rule, but I’ll just say I hated Moves Like Jagger with the burning intensity of a thousand suns, but only because I love Maroon 5, especially Adam Levine’s voice, and I can’t listen to that song and not see the pile of money for which they agreed to sell out completely. But what if that quality singer ended up on a song by a band that was still sticking true to their musical passion that was catch and romantic without being cheesy? You’d get Stereo Hearts, of course. One of my favorite love songs of the last few years, Adam Levine’s incredible voice steals the show in the best of all possible ways. Now if only Maroon 5 can get back doing things like this, everyone will win…

6. Pumped Up Kicks by Foster the People: An indie rock song actually dominated the charts? Stop the presses! It’s 2004 all over again!

…Okay, maybe not. The age of indie rock hitting mainstream appeal was a one time deal, and I doubt that one song is going to change the pop world but…damn this is a good song. I am not really familiar with the rest of the band’s work, but the upbeat melody contrasted with the eeriness of the lyrics creates an atmosphere different from anything I’ve heard in a long time, especially for the pop charts. The whistling is catchy too, so you’re sure to be humming the song all day long once you listen to it. Even if it doesn’t start the indie revolution, it more than stands up on its own.

5. Moment for Life by Nicki Minaj and Drake: The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, and sadly, those who make up Lil’ Wayne’s Young Money stable have picked up the best and worst of his habits. Both Drake and Nicki Minaj have had moments of greatness (though I prefer Drake to Nicki when they’re both on point), but they also stumble more often than they should. Nicki especially fell off the wagon this year with some slow ballads that just didn’t work and Super Bass, which after 8 months of being drilled into my head…I feel largely indifferent towards it.

But what if I told you that Nicki Minaj and Drake had a song in which they were both nearly flawless in their rap execution together. Enter Moment for Life. There’s a genuine quality to the song that makes you feel as if both rappers (especially Drake) truly wonder about what happens when their careers end one day, and this song is not only clever, but also deeply emotional in a way that none of their other hits this year did. Really great song by two talented artists that shows just what their potential could be.

4. All of the Lights by Kanye West ft. Rihanna, Kid Cudi: There are two Kanye West songs. There is the Kanye West song in which he talks about how awesome he is and (usually) comes off as an egotistical ass (exception: Diamonds from Sierra Leone), and there is the Kanye West song in which he offers deep introspection on his life and the world around him in which I remember why I like him as an artist so much (still feel as if he was shafted when Chris Brown won at the Grammys on Monday night, but that’s another battle for another day). All of the Lights is probably the finest song Kanye’s done in a long time. Great raps mixed with an incredible beat make for a great song. What more is there to say?

3. Someone Like You by Adele: Oh, you knew she was going to be near the top of the list, didn’t you? I mean, she only changed the game last year, taking pop culture from a place in which everyone just went to clubs to one where talent shined through and powerful voices got the respect they deserve (there’s a good reason she swept at the Grammys, people). She said in an interview she wanted a song to end her album 21 (which you should all totally buy right now because it’s awesome) that showed a gentler view of the guy she’d spent the whole album trashing, and indeed it does. A powerful voice with a powerful message to which everyone can relate (myself more than I want to admit); what more do you want? Nearly flawless.

2. More (RedOne remix) by Usher: Welcome back to the game, Usher. I was a little worried after you disappeared after Confessions and responded with Love in This Club, and Lil’ Freak and OMG did nothing to assuage my fears, but man, you came back with DJ Got Us Fallin’ in Love, and I was ready to see what you would do next.

But even though I loved DJ Got Us Fallin’ in Love, even I didn’t expect this. More was everything you want an Usher song to be. It was fun. It had an incredible beat. You had Usher doing his thing with his insane dance skills while showing off his incredible vocal range once again. It was a triumphant song that made you want to get up and scream “More!” as you went out to dance like crazy, and I’m not even a big dancer. Bottom line: Usher’s back, ladies and gentlemen. Enjoy it while we can, because we never know when he might disappear into the shadows once again.

1. Rolling in the Deep by Adele: What else did you expect? Really, what more can I say that hasn’t already been said about the runaway winner for best song of the year? It’s a bitter, angry song filled with passion and emotion to which everyone can relate performed by the greatest female singer in pop right now. It’s perfect. It’s so damn good that it took the top spot during the summer. You know, summer? Those months where people want to party. This song was so good that the party songs just couldn’t compete. Yeah, it was overplayed, but so what? It’s a pop song. Most of them are overplayed, and compared to most, this one stands up far more strongly. It’s a truly amazing song worthy of every ounce of praise it is given, and I couldn’t recommend it more.

Brendan and MaristPlayBoy’s (Chase) Worst List:

(For commentary, please listen to the podcast in the videos above. These are simply rankings and song links)

Brendan’s Worst


10. Grenade by Bruno Mars
9. The Lazy Song by Bruno Mars
8. Jar of Hearts by Christina Perri
7. Bottoms Up by Trey Songz ft. Nicki Minaj
6. Don’t Wanna Go Home by Jason Derulo
5. Just Can’t Get Enough by Black Eyed Peas
4. I Need a Doctor by Dr. Dre ft. Eminem
3. You and I by Lady Gaga
2. Sexy and I Know It by LMFAO
1. The Time (Dirty Bit) by Black Eyed Peas


Chase’s Worst


10. Best Thing I Never Had by Beyonce
9. Tonight (I’m Fucking You) by Enrique Inglesias
8. Jar of Hearts by Christina Perri
7. Down on Me by Jeremih ft. 50 Cent
6. Black and Yellow by Wiz Khalifa
5. Grenade by Bruno Mars
4. The Lazy Song by Bruno Mars
3. The Time (Dirty Bit) by Black Eyed Peas
2. Tonight, Tonight by Hot Chelle Rae
1. Sexy and I Know It by LMFAO

Video: Grammy Recap!

Enjoy my musings on the Grammys! Happy Tuesday!

And That’s Shakespeare: Episode 3 – Othello

Shrek Forever After

Hey guys! Last week, I reviewed Shrek the Third. It wasn’t very good. This week, I reviewed Shrek Forever After. It was a heck of a lot better. To see what they got right, check out the video below. Enjoy!

Ars epistole

Thank God for the Internet. No longer must we carefully compose long letters for far-off friends; no longer must we wait days for the USPS to deliver them, days again to hear a response, and time again after that to think of how to reply. What efficiency is ours! An e-mail costs nothing, but a letter is 45 cents. (Did you know that?) We can chat with friends on the other side of the globe nigh-instantly by various means, none of which require expense or time or effort. The letter is dead. And we should absolutely resurrect it.

Letter-writing is good for you, I swear. Here are some reasons:

1. Handwriting. Okay, fine, you don’t actually have to write a letter with a pen or pencil. You could type it. You can even send it via e-mail to save those 45 cents and a bit of time in transit. But there’s something to be said for writing by hand. One, you have to think about what you’re trying to say before saying it (no delete key), which itself is probably building some kind of important or handy brain function. When you do mess up, your letter bears the scars of your mistake: eraser marks or ink stains. And it’s a thrill to see a friend’s unique style of handwriting on a page meant just for you. It’s fun to develop your own handwriting. But yeah, you can type it too, if you really want.

2. Your attention span will probably improve if you actually sit down and write a letter instead of distractedly shuffling several single-syllable -type conversations on iChat. No, seriously.

3. It’s not about you; a good letter is like a good gift. You write them for other people, not yourselves. By contrast, listen to the way we talk to each other when just chatting. David Foster Wallace wrote that (very much paraphrased) it sure is funny that old telephones had 6 holes on the listening end and 6^2 holes on the talking end. Let’s face it – most of the time, we care way more about what we ourselves have to say than about our conversational partner’s contributions.

4. Priorities. A letter makes you reconsider what’s important in your life. When you summarize to a friend what’s been going on lately – longer than “nm, u?” and shorter than a novel – you have to pick and choose what you’re going to talk about. Most people don’t care to hear about the things we post on Facebook.

5. You get to say it all at once. Whatever you’re writing about, you basically get to talk without any kind of interruptions. This means that if you’re trying to explain your theory of animal metempsychosis or something equally bizarre, you get to explain better than in conversation, and you probably won’t be as misunderstood. And when you have to make an effort to explain it in a coherent, written form, you might even end up understanding and developing your own points better. And when reading others’ letters, you can’t interrupt them. You have to hear the whole argument before making a response. I’ve had some pretty excellent debates about politics, culture, philosophy, etc. via letters.

The closest thing there is to letters these days is blog posts. But those, usually intended for wide audiences who will probably skip off to a different site before reading the first paragraph, lack the personal feel of letters. I used to receive far more letters than I do now, back when it was still common to write them. Myself, I still write letters, and you should give it a try too, if it’s been a while since you did. I’m perfectly aware that despite my best efforts, there will be no reclaiming the letter tradition, not while our current technology is around; no envelope-borne revolution; no mad dash for stamps. Letter-writing is transient, and it’s on its last legs. But the Internet will find its way to obsolescence someday, too. Everything does. And then, I’ll be glad I practiced my handwriting.

Over and out.

A New Challenger Appears!

Hello!

First time actually writing on this blog (although you’ve seen me once before, on Vidcast #1), so I may as well start out with an introduction. My name is Alex, or [Witty SciFi Pun]. Why that name, you ask? Well, I was going to use an actual pun, but I couldn’t pick just one, and so I decided to take the whole “meta” angle with it. I won’t be writing too often- just whenever I have something I want to write about and some free time during my busy college life.

I have many “geeky” interests, so what I write about will vary from post to post. I am a big fan of science fiction movies, of both the good and so-bad-they’re-good-again varieties. I’m planning to major in chemistry, and have an affinity for science in general. High-tech stuff fascinates me, and I spend way too much time looking at funny/stupid stuff on the internet. Also, I’m British, so you may see me write about stuff from that side of the pond once in a while. First and foremost, though, I’m a gamer: I enjoy video games, board games, Nerf Wars, a few sports, etc. I’ll admit that my so-called “busy college life” would be much less busy if I didn’t play games so much. With great fun comes great procrastination, and all that.

Anyways, I hope that you’ll enjoy my future posts; I definitely look forward to writing them.

Until next time,

-[Witty SciFi Pun]

THE VOICE!

Okay guys, this is going to be kind of a brief post because it’s late at night and I just worked three hours in the scene shop guh.

Anyway, what I’d like to talk about is the awesome NBC reality show The Voice. I know it has already had one season that happened over the summer, but it just came back for a second season and I am so excited! In case you didn’t know, The Voice is somewhat like American Idol, except much more…civilized, I think is the word. I call it civilized because the judges (Christina Ageuleria (def spelled that wrong), Adam Levine, Cee-lo Green, and Blake Shelton) are never rude and are always constructive. (Though Christina is pretty vague sometimes). Also, the auditions don’t contain any weirdo contestants that are just used to laugh at. For the most part, the contestants in the audition segment of the show are pretty talented, even the ones who don’t make the cut. And the auditions aren’t a capella like American Idol, The Voice contestants get a full band to back them up.

What happens is the judges have the back of their chairs facing the performer so that they can’t see who is singing–that way it is based soley on the performer’s voice alone. If the judges like what they hear, they hit a button and their chair turns around. If only one judge turns around, they get that singer for their eight person team. If more than one judge turns around, then the singer gets to choose whose team they want to be on. Then as the show goes on, the judges coach the members of their team and help them prepare themselves for the next show. By the finale, one person from each team remains.

I know a lot of people say that The Voice is the same as American Idol, and true, the whole reality singing compeition aspect is the same, but I think NBC goes about it in a different way that puts a new twist on the competition like the fact that duos can try out, and older and younger people too.
So everyone should go watch The Voice! The best part, honestly, is the fact that Cee-lo shows off his white cat that he pets during his interviews. What.

Happy Tuesday!