> Fringe
Bloc Party rocks The Pabst Theater
Requests more rowdiness in the future
By Melissa Campbell
“You’re all very nice,” said Kele Okereke, lead singer for the band Bloc Party, “but I think you could be a little more naughty.” The band was a little more than halfway through its set at The Pabst Theater on Tuesday night, Sept. 11.
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How super are you?
Liz Jones, former Marie Claire editor recently published an article entitled, “Goodbye supermodels - you've been left behind by an industry hungry for youth.” This prompted me to consider the question, is the supermodel era really over?
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50 Cent vs. Kanye West
Preview (Match-UP
Curtis Jackson a.k.a 50 Cent has declared to the press that “If Kanye sells more CDs than me, I’ll retire.”
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A talk with Arthur Nersesian
Arthur Nersesian is not a believer in the default life. As he puts it, “Most people mate, have kids, settle down, and turn their lives into modest little money making machines.” His first novel, “The Fuck-Up,” was well received, and was very quickly released as an MTVBook so that hipsters everywhere could have an easy-to-carry copy.
Since then, he has released books such as “Manhattan Loverboy,” “Unlubricated,” and “Dogrun,” all of which have met with excellent reviews.
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Recharging the FPS
“Bioshock” is one of those unique games you only see every so often. It combines the sense of horror and dread with shots of adrenaline and excitement. What makes “Bioshock” so different from those other mindless, shoot-‘em-up, first-person shooters is the story it tells.
The player controls Jack, a lone survivor of a plane crash over the Atlantic Ocean.
Jack finds himself riding a bathysphere to the ocean floor where he discovers a massive
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Bloc Party starts with a bang
The first five minutes of Bloc Party’s sophomore album, “A Weekend in the City,” contain pretty much everything one could ask for when it comes to a great rock song.
Amazing guitar frets that harken back to some of the amazing hair metal of the ‘80s? Check.
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Turn your thumb green
I often find myself wishing a genie would come to my apartment and give me a Highland White Terrier (Westie) puppy. They say, however, that before you get a pet, you ought to be able to care for a plant; and before you get a baby, you ought to be able to care for a plant and a pet.
So it seems that the place to start learning responsibility is by caring for a plant. Here are some tips on keeping them alive.
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Channeling his inner Dylan
In 2006, Josh Ritter released “The Animal Years,” an extremely personal album revolving around his opinion on the current trajectory of this country. It just so happened that it was also the best album of the year.
With songs like “Girl in the War” and “Thin Blue Flame,” Ritter lamented the state of the nation that he used to believe so strongly in. Emotionally crooning lines like, “If what’s loosed on earth will be loosed up on high / It’s a Hell of a Heaven we must go to when we die” left listeners in a much needed daze.
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Beloved children’s author dead at 88
Author Madeline L’Engle, best known for her Newbery Award-winning novel “A Wrinkle in Time,” died last Friday at a nursing home in Litchfield, Connecticut. She was 88.
The author of more than 60 works of literature, including fantasy, poetry and memoirs, L’Engle’s deeply spiritual writing often highlighted her Christian faith. Although considered a children’s author by the press and publishing world, L’Engle disagreed with that label.
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Mandy Moore coming to Milwaukee
Former bubblegum-pop star Mandy Moore has been touring nationwide all summer in support of her new album, “Wild Hope.” The singer who had previous Top 40 hits with “Candy,” “Crush” and “Cry” will be stopping by with her “Wild Hope” tour in Milwaukee on Sept. 30 at 7:30 p.m. at The Pabst Theatre.
The concert promises to be very intimate with Moore playing organic folk-pop songs along with an accomplished group of musicians.
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To reformat or not reformat
Adapting any media into a movie is like walking on a tightrope held by the fans with guard rails provided by the movie studio: The fans may get mad at some executive decisions and shake the rope, but the producers and director have the big wig-guard rails to hold on to. After all, it is their movie and their money. Who says they have to listen to us?
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Oh, Britney!
Viva Las Vegas!
That’s right; the 2007 MTV Video Music Awards aired live from the Palms Casino and Hotel on the Las Vegas strip Sunday, Sept. 9. It was clear that MTV had many different ideas for this years award show.
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Opera community mourns death of Pavarotti
On Sept. 6, 2007 Luciano Pavarotti passed away after a year long battle with pancreatic cancer. Pavarotti has been likened to a modern day savior, responsible for the resurgence of opera. Often considered one of opera’s greatest performers, his death was a tremendous loss to the musical community.
He was born in the northern Italian town of Modena on Oct. 12, 1935. He took an interest in singing from his father; the two would sing in the church choir together.
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Should we stop believing in HBO?
As Mr. Miyagi was the greatest thing to ever happen to the Bonsai Tree, “The Sopranos” is the best thing to ever happen to the overly maligned, yet still cheesy band, Journey. The final four minutes of the final Sopranos episode, which aired over the summer, was accompanied by the elegant sound of what is quite possibly the greatest ballad ever written, Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believing.”
And what was the outcome of David Chase choosing to end his show with Journey’s most famous song? “Don’t Stop Believing” immediately shot to the top of the best selling songs list on iTunes and remained there for several days.
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Nintendo 64 gave me a panic attack
Every medium has a source of tension that keeps audiences breathless in anticipation for what’s going to happen next.
Alfred Hitchcock perfected the art of anxiety by manipulation of the audience’s knowledge, the uncomfortable nature of voyeurism and his mastery of all things sound. The shower scene in “Psycho” is a perfect, albeit overused, example of tension at its finest.
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Dress for success
Tim Gunn is concerned as much with what you wear on the outside as he is with what you wear on the inside in his new show, “Tim Gunn’s Guide To Style” (Thursdays, 9 p.m., Bravo). The show is not to be confused with “What Not to Wear” (Fridays, 9 p.m., The Learning Channel), because the approach is a little different.
While Clinton and Stacey of “What Not to Wear” are more interested in raiding and cleansing the closets of their guest and filling them with more fashionable threads, Tim Gunn and fashion model Veronica Webb are focused on the total package.
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