Take a moment and listen to the Perpetuum Jazille choir perform “Africa,” in October, 2008.
Africa
November 10, 2009 at 7:26 pm (Uncategorized)
Tags: Acappella, Africa, Art, Choir, creativity, Culture, Entertainment, Happiness, Life, Music, Perpetuum Jazille, Pop Culture, Singing, Toto, Vocal, Vocal Percussion, Vocalists, Worship
Linger
November 5, 2009 at 7:28 pm (Blogging)
Tags: Afraid, American History, Christianity, Church, Communication, Culture, Faith, Fear, Forgiveness, George W. Bush, Ghosts, God, Guilt, Happiness, Haunting, History, Jay Leno, Jenna Bush, Life, Lincoln's Ghost, Music, Opinions, Politics, Pop Culture, Prayer, Presidents, Purpose, Regret, Religion, Supernatural, The White House, Theology
The White House, photographed for the first time in 1846 by John Plumbe during the Polk administration.
It seems to me, that if any place in America would be haunted, it would most certainly be the White House, with all of the tension and stress and decisions made within those walls.
There must be some sort of supernatural residue still lingering there. A former resident certainly believes it to be so.
Fright House: Jenna Bush on the ghostly music playing in the presidential home already ‘haunted’ by Abraham Lincoln
by Sara Nelson
for the Daily Mail
The daughter of former President George W Bush has claimed she saw ghosts during her time in the White House.
Jenna Bush Hager told chat show host Jay Leno she had been terrified by spooky events near the fireplace in her bedroom.
The 27-year-old teacher, who now works as an education correspondent for the Today Show said: ‘I heard a ghost. I was asleep, there was a fireplace in my room and all of a sudden I heard 1920s music coming out.
‘I could feel it, I freaked out and ran into my sister’s room. She was like “Please go back to sleep this is ridiculous”.
‘The next week we were both asleep in my room, the phone had rang and woke us up.
‘We were talking and going back to bed when all of a sudden we heard this opera, coming out of the fireplace.
‘We couldn’t believe it, we both jumped in bed and were asking the people that worked there the next morning “Are we crazy?”
‘We tried to rationalise it, but they said they heard it there all the time.’
Jenna and her family lived at the Washington DC presidential home from 2001 to 2009.
She told how her parents were settling in well back at home in Texas, and that the former president has even been offered a job at a hardware store – but turned it down, feeling he was overqualified.
The former first daughter confessed she had never seen Abraham Lincoln’s ghost – which is said to regularly haunt the White House – but wished she had.
Lincoln’s ghost is widely reported to walk up and down the second floor hallway, knock at doors and stand at certain windows with his hands clasped behind his back.
Indeed Winston Churchill refused to sleep in the former president’s bedroom after reportedly spotting his ghost lurking there.
The British Prime Minister had stepped into the room after a relaxing bath with a cigar and a glass of scotch.
Still naked, the premier is reported to have spied an apparition of Lincoln standing by the fireplace. The pair are said to have started at each other for some time before the ghost faded away.
Former first lady Hilary Clinton has also spoken about the spooky atmosphere in the White House.
The US Secretary of State said: ‘There is something about the house at night that you just feel like you are summoning up the spirits of all the people who have lived there and worked there and walked through the halls there.’
She told the Rosie O’Donnell Show: ‘It’s neat, it can be a little creepy.
‘You know, they think there’s a ghost there. It is a big old house and when the lights are out it is dark and quiet and any movement at all catches your attention.’
Indeed Harry Truman once wrote to his wife: ‘I sit here in this old house, all the while listening to the ghosts walk up and down the hallway.
‘At 4 o’clock I was awakened by three distinct knocks on my bedroom door. No one there. [The] place is haunted, sure as shootin’!’
As well as human hauntings, the have been tales of a demon cat prowling the building’s basement.
According to legend, years go by without a sighting of the animal, but when it does appear, national disaster is said to be imminent.
Some witnesses claim the demon cat first appears as a helpless-looking kitten, which grows in size and menace the closer one gets to it.
A White House guard claimed to have seen it a week before the great stock market crash of the 1920s and it was also reportedly seen days before the assassination of JFK.
I’m not sure if Lincoln’s ghost is more frightening, though, than the thought of Churchill fresh from a bath.
Anyway, ghosts are most definitely real. And while they may not be the unattached spirits or souls of the dead, they are real in the sense that after any great tragedy, or crisis, we allow some sort of residual effect to linger.
A fight. A death. Turmoil. Job loss. Rebellious kids. Conversations with harsh words. Wrecking decisions. All of these give us remorse, guilt, and we are haunted with the sheer regret of the crisis. And that residue, sometimes, just won’t leave.
May we have better discernment about the words we say and the actions we choose, or, maybe more importantly, about the words we keep, and the actions we disregard.
Killed
September 30, 2009 at 2:44 pm (Art, Blogging, Church)
Tags: American History, Communication, Culture, Entertainment, Facebook, Flickr, God, History, Hulu, Life, MTV, Music, Opinions, Pop Culture, Privacy, Purpose, Snapfish, Social Networking, Technology, Television, The Buggles, The Internet, The Telegraph, Video Killed the Radio Star
Self-Made Prophets ...
The Buggles told us the truth.
Video did kill the radio star. And they added to that death by producing a music video that would be the first aired on MTV.
Now, other things are dying, but are being killed by the Internet.
A list of what the Internet is killing was published in The Telegraph, and is longer than what I’ve posted here, but these are the ones that got my attention.
1) The art of polite disagreement
While the inane spats of YouTube commencers may not be representative, the internet has certainly sharpened the tone of debate. The most raucous sections of the blogworld seem incapable of accepting sincerely held differences of opinion; all opponents must have “agendas”.2) Fear that you are the only person unmoved by a celebrity’s death
Twitter has become a clearing-house for jokes about dead famous people. Tasteless, but an antidote to the “fans in mourning” mawkishness that otherwise predominates.3) Listening to an album all the way through
The single is one of the unlikely beneficiaries of the internet – a development which can be looked at in two ways. There’s no longer any need to endure eight tracks of filler for a couple of decent tunes, but will “album albums” like Radiohead’s Amnesiac get the widespread hearing they deserve?5) Punctuality
Before mobile phones, people actually had to keep their appointments and turn up to the pub on time. Texting friends to warn them of your tardiness five minutes before you are due to meet has become one of throwaway rudenesses of the connected age.12) Letter writing/pen pals
Email is quicker, cheaper and more convenient; receiving a handwritten letter from a friend has become a rare, even nostalgic, pleasure. As a result, formal valedictions like “Yours faithfully” are being replaced by “Best” and “Thanks”.13) Memory
When almost any fact, no matter how obscure, can be dug up within seconds through Google and Wikipedia, there is less value attached to the “mere” storage and retrieval of knowledge. What becomes important is how you use it – the internet age rewards creativity.14) Dead time
When was the last time you spent an hour mulling the world out a window, or rereading a favourite book? The internet’s draw on our attention is relentless and increasingly difficult to resist.15) Photo albums and slide shows
Facebook, Flickr and printing sites like Snapfish are how we share our photos. Earlier this year Kodak announced that it was discontinuing its Kodachrome slide film because of lack of demand.17) Watching television together
On-demand television, from the iPlayer in Britain to Hulu in the US, allows relatives and colleagues to watch the same programmes at different times, undermining what had been one of the medium’s most attractive cultural appeals – the shared experience. Appointment-to-view television, if it exists at all, seems confined to sport and live reality shows.18) Authoritative reference works
We still crave reliable information, but generally aren’t willing to pay for it.27) Knowing telephone numbers off by heart
After typing the digits into your contacts book, you need never look at them again.29) The mystery of foreign languages
Sites like Babelfish offer instant, good-enough translations of dozens of languages – but kill their beauty and rhythm.31) Privacy
We may attack governments for the spread of surveillance culture, but users of social media websites make more information about themselves available than Big Brother could ever hoped to obtain by covert means.50) Your lunchbreak
Did you leave your desk today? Or snaffle a sandwich while sending a few personal emails and checking the price of a week in Istanbul?
Powerful things here. How true are these for you?
Should
July 21, 2009 at 10:25 pm (Art)
Tags: American History, American Idol, Communication, Culture, David Bowie, Entertainment, Indie, Indie Music, Life, Michael Jackson, Music, Opinions, Pop Culture, Teenagers, Top 40, Top Forty, Undiscovered, Unsigned, Whitney Houston, Youth Ministry
Mainstream music is certainly manufactured for immediate success and quick remembrance.
And since the world is contemplating the legacy of Michael Jackson, and in the minutia of musical influence, I found the following article somewhat refreshing.
In my ministry to students, I have found that a brave few are listening to a wide variety of unknown or undiscovered artists — artists who have rejected the mainstream version of creativity, and have launched albums with unique sounds, though maybe only enjoyable by a select few. Any artist with the courage to break the status quo and find a unique sound with a unique following is worth a listen. I have a few favorite artists like this myself.
But that certainly proves the point that we like our music, and we like our music our way. It’s such a powerful, powerful medium, but …
according to this article, it should have been much, much better …
“Five Singers Who Ruined Pop Music”
Tony Scalfani
msnbc.com
David Bowie
Sure, he could sound like John Lennon on one album and Luther Vandross on the next. But that was the problem with David Bowie — in his heyday he seemed more of a theatrical chameleon who tried on personas than an impassioned rock singer. Bowie’s restless experimentalism allowed him to pull off being coolly distant and affected. Sadly, others copped his affectations without his intelligent approach. For a while in the 1980s, it seemed as if nearly every singer drew more from Bowie’s European theater tradition of singing than the tradition of rock singing itself (which came from R&B and gospel sources). Those who succumbed to Bowie-itis included everyone from Ric Ocasek of the Cars to David Byrne of Talking Heads to Robert Palmer to even Cyndi Lauper and Madonna. In short, anytime anyone tries on a vocal persona instead of singing from the heart, they’re channeling the Thin White Duke.
Whitney Houston
In the second verse of her second hit single, “Saving All My Love for You,”Whitney Houston pronounces the word “cry” as “cu-ry.” That was just the beginning of her habit of adding extra syllables to words and over-the-top frills to songs — embellishments she seemed to add to show off her voice, not to put the song across better. Yes, Houston was a dazzling singer when she emerged, but younger female singers picked up on the most bombastic elements of her style, thinking that was what you needed to be a great vocalist. So along came Taylor Dayne, Mariah Carey, Christina Aguilera, Jessica Simpson, Celine Dion and almost any “soulful” female singer who ever made audience’s ears bleed on “American Idol.” A new style of vocalizing emerged, and it even got a name: oversinging. Over the years oversinging has become an unintentional parody of the R&B singing from which it descended. All of the above singers should have gone back and studied Aretha Franklin and Gladys Knight, two brilliant artists who knew what you leave out of a song can be as important as what you put in.
Jim Morrison
It makes people uncomfortable when you mention that Morrison often took vocal cues from an old school pop artist like Frank Sinatra. But that seems to be where the late lead singer of the Doors got his croon from. The difference was, Morrison wasn’t wrapping his baritone around jazz standards by Cole Porter or George Gershwin — he was singing rock lyrics with poetic pretensions and more simplistic chords. Even though Morrison could pull this off without sounding idiotic (most of the time), others couldn’t. What followed Morrison was a succession of singers whose bellowing brought to rock music an annoying self-importance it had never had. The main offenders are the obvious ones, like Eddie Vedder, Scott Stapp and Michael Hutchence. But you also have to throw in almost every post-punk singer that emerged from the U.K. and employed a deep voice to sound “profound” (we’re looking at you, Dave Gahan). Traces of Morrison’s pompous leanings can also be heard in singers as wide-ranging as Bono, Chad Kroeger and Bob Geldof.
Paula Abdul
Paula Abdul has the opposite problem of Whitney Houston. Where Houston could sing too well for her own good, Abdul could hardly sing at all, and even got sued by R&B singer Yvette Marine, who claimed she shared some of the lead vocals on Abdul’s debut album “Forever Your Girl” (Marine lost the case, but careful headphone listening reveals Abdul’s vocals were bolstered by someone). What Abdul could do well was dance and look good, which was starting to matter more and more on MTV around the time she emerged in 1989. And so the door was opened for anyone who could make Chipmunk-like sounds but looked hot doing so. Britney Spears, P. Diddy, the Pussycat Dolls, Kanye West and Ashlee Simpson have walked through that door and earned millions, as have the other scads of singers who rely on Auto-Tune to carry a tune. The irony of all this, of course, is that Abdul herself could likely never have qualified to be a contestant on “American Idol,” the very show on which she now serves as a talent judge.
Steve Marriott
Marriott was the powerhouse lead vocalist of the super-cool U.K. mod band the Small Faces and arena rockers Humble Pie. As a singer, the guy couldn’t be topped — his power and versatility were amazingand he virtually always sounded engaged (if not possessed). But Marriott was also the first male vocalist in rock to regularly sing in a very high register in a full, non-falsetto voice. According to Jimmy Page, Marriott was the original choice for Led Zeppelin’s lead singer. And here’s where he became a bad influence. Marriott led to Robert Plant, Plant led to Geddy Lee of Rush and Steve Perry of Journey and all of a sudden there were scores of long haired guy singers who picked up on Marriott’s screeching but left out his soulfulness. Zeppelin, Rush, Triumph and (sometimes) Journey are all great to listen to separately, but the cumulative effect of all these wailing voices on the radio back in the day made rock music sound, well, sort of silly. It also probably drove people to punk rock, where the singer sounded more down to Earth.
Sparkle
December 30, 2008 at 3:55 pm (Art)
Tags: Acoustic Guitar, America, American Culture, American History, Art, Barack Obama, Billboard, Christian Entertainment, Contemporary Christian Music, Culture, Entertainment, Faith, Girl America, God, Mat Kearney, Music, Poetry, Politics, Pop Culture, Presidential Election, Rap, Religion, Spoken Word, The United States of America, Top Forty, Worship
Mat Kearney is a poet.
When I first opened his album Bullet, in 2004, I was completely overwhelmed at his acoustic stylings, playing against spoken words and great hooks. And then I dissected each song, and was drawn into the music.
I burned it, though, played it until I was no longer interested, until I picked up my acoustic and learned a few of the tunes, and that catapulted my interest again. This week, the album is once again spinning, and this time I was drawn to his song “Girl America.” The song itself, as well as Bullet, was repackaged into his second album, Nothing Left to Lose, and right now, I am awaiting his third album, and trying to be patient.
When you first listen to his song Girl America, you’re left a bit confused. He speaks the words so fast, and the chorus and the bridge, the songful parts of the tune, are good, and you start to wonder a little. And then you break apart the song, find the lyrics from a Google search, and realize that the song itself is quite powerful. And quite poetic.
I’m not sure what he planned for this song. I’m not sure if he thought he was writing something so poetic and contemporary and raw. And maybe, through the fiasco of the last presidential election, with all of the image and pomp and American degradation, this song speaks to me even more now. I’m not sure, but I have found a new realness in this song that was somehow missed in all of the previous listens.
Click here for his site, and listen to the song by shuffling through his tracks in the music tab at the top. Then read these lyrics, and then maybe you’ll see America in a much different way.
**********
Girl America
by Mat Kearney
My girl America is just a youth in this world,
Her smile is more precious than the sparkle of pearls.And though her age reads, she’s just a young girl,
The age behind her eyes show the pain that she’s swirled, through the hand that’s been dealt,
Though it’s quiet as kept,the weight that she felt last night when she slept,
And as she crept into the dreams of the things of her past.Seems to have grown so fast, way beyond her own class,
Though they’re right there with her, her brothers and her sisters.
A natural born leader even when her peers dis her.My girl, she’s at a crossroads, people praying for her.
Some are preying on her.Magazine ads, sex, drama, smoking marijuana,
Longing for a father to call her “daughter.”She’s part of a generation longing for reconciliation,
And this future that they’re facing and this poison that they’re tasting,My girl, I know this love you’re chasing.
****
My girl America’s crying when she’s lying on her bed at night,
I can see that she’s screaming when she’s dreaming for her freedom.
My girl America’s dying while she’s trying just to stop this fight.
Don’t stop believing, my girl America.****
Boys with hungry eyes have been beating her door,
Telling her that’s what she’s for, trying to rob at her core,
Then leave calling her a whore, but still she knows there’s more.I know she knows there’s more because there is a voice she can’t ignore,
‘Cause it was founded in the foundations, from the day of her creation.“In God we trust” engraved on the treasures of her nation,
And the void that the boys can’t fill,
With the tipping of the bottle or the popping of the pill.But still most of her friends don’t care as they glare,
Ready to drown down the funnel as they frown down the tunnel.
They stumble and they tumble breaking down into rubble.
My girl America, stop! Can’t you see?It’s not the circumstances that determine who you’re gonna be,
But how you deal with these problems and pains that come your way.It’s for you that I pray with hope for a brighter day,
And so I say, your deliverance is coming.****
My girl America’s crying when she’s lying on her bed at night,
I can see that she’s screaming when she’s dreaming for her freedom.
My girl America’s dying while she’s trying just to stop this fight.
Don’t stop believing, my girl America.****
Faith like a child from your first birth.
You left it in the dirt on your worst hurt.
And I see each tear and every scar,
The hands that have held you where you are.And I can see we’ve strayed so far.
A king born under that morning star.
As a crown of thorns was placed to erase
Each tear that’s touched your face.And his palms and sides were pierced with spears
He hung in love just to draw you near
My girl, out of this whole world,
Can’t you see this is where we started?****
My girl America’s crying when she’s lying on her bed at night,
I can see that she’s screaming when she’s dreaming for her freedom.
My girl America’s dying while she’s trying just to stop this fight.
Don’t stop believing, my girl America.
**********
Powerful, isn’t it?
Feast
November 17, 2008 at 3:25 pm (Culture)
Tags: Art, Christ, Christian Music, Church, Community, Culture, Education, God, Holy Spirit, Life, Music, Preaching, Purpose, Religion, Sensory, Teaching, Teenagers, Worship, Worship Ministry, Worship Music, Youth Ministry
(Note to you, dear reader. I’ve included a quick poll at the bottom of this post. Your answers are completely anonymous, so feel free to vote!)
__________
In early October, I, with a friend, had the opportunity to attend a worship conference in Nashville.
After an afternoon of travel, we entered into the lobby, full of people with coffee cups in hand, standing and networking and talking and laughing and wondering. There were book tables and, in the lobby, a baptistery, with a large glass window which viewed the large courtyard to the back of the campus.
As the sanctuary doors opened, we walked inside and found the auditorium which, with pews, could seat well over two thousand peoples, but instead of pews or chairs, it was filled with tables and chairs, and the thousand or so which came to the conference found their places and waited.
The worship leaders took the stage, an a capella group, with around a dozen singers, and the first note of the first song was angelic. The room erupted into praise from ministers and worship leaders eager to be filled during a worship assembly, a stark departure from spending Mondays virtually emptied from leading hundreds in worship on Sundays. I was one of those people, and found myself in a room of raw emotions and needful people, and could not sing, for my voice weakened, and my emotions softened, and the worship experience, though very subtle without musicians or bands or instruments, was simply remarkable, and easily the most transforming moment of worship I have ever attended.
The night of worship was such a feast for the soul. Great worship songs led into an emotive and energetic and intelligent speaker, which then gave way to another time of worship. That led to a video montage of several movie clips, which had most of us laughing, which then gave way to another moment of speaking. We then engaged into a community activity with those sitting around our table, and then were led again in a moment of worship. The two hour event moved fast, and was a true sensory feast. At the conclusion of the event, I was simply overwhelmed.
And it wasn’t because the quality of the worship leaders or the speakers was any greater than what I see, and in which I participate, every Sunday. It was just the careful and simple planning to ensure that you can connect with God in every single sensory way, from singing to listening to writing to watching to talking.
Traditional churches find this thought very revolutionary, with static schedules of worship. But a teacher in a classroom of second graders understands that if you want students to learn, and you want your learning environment to be a true learning experience, you need to ensure that your students can learn in a variety of ways, by surrounding them with varying angles of the same message.
Yesterday, in the church where I worship and work and lead, was a day very similar to the conference described above. The worship schedule included a brief moment of worship, then a presentation, followed by a longer period of singing. Our church then shared communion, and, before the offering, watched another presentation. We prayed for those who have been saved, and then heard a message on giving. After, we witnessed a baptism of one of our students, but the comments made by her father were just overwhelming and moving. I saw one of our church members at lunch, and he told me that the morning was just great — and that we only made him cry three times.
He is not alone. Great moments of humility typically follow genuine encounters with God. Isaiah, the prophet, could not speak when he saw the cherubim of God, and heard His voice. The face of Moses glowed after speaking with God on a mountain, but that was well after God approached him in a bush glowing with fire, but never quite burned. Elijah heard God in a whisper. Peter and Andrew and James and John, and others, saw God as a human, and watched him heal the withered legs of a crippled man. And they were soon given the same power to heal.
Moreover, all of those stories attest to the fact that God has no one favored way of approaching humanity, but, in fact, approaches us in a variety of ways, because we have varied ways of sensing and feeling and understanding. I believe we have every right, and every capability, to find and worship God with every emotive response we possess, for we are created that way.
We again tested this idea last night, when we hosted a more contemporary worship event, targeted for teenagers, with a sensory worship environment, that included, of all things, a painter, painting a scene from the crucifixion. With the lights dimmed, the schedule was again broken into parts, which alternated between moments of speaking and singing, and watching. It wasn’t variety, for the sake of variety, but rather, a genuine, honest attempt to reach a new generation of seekers, whose lives are filled with multiple tasks at once. They expect their experiences to be total and complete and surrounding. Others don’t, but find God in new ways when they engage in worship like this.
It was a worship of surrounding, with people finding God in layers of emotions and responses and experiences. It was truly a feast.
__________
Share your thoughts! Your submissions are completely anonymous, even to me, so please, vote!
Fresh
October 6, 2008 at 7:47 pm (Culture)
Tags: Acappella, Americana, Bluegrass, Culture, Entertainment, George Pendergrass, Indie, Music, MySpace, Nashville, Pop Culture, Singing, Vocalist
I’ve not posted videos on this blog purposefully. But this group, Merging Blue, has a unique and fresh brand of music that is catchy, and inspiring, and this video is more than enough proof.
The lead here is George Pendergrass, a familiar face, and voice that’s been sorely missed. Visit their MySpace page here.
Filled
September 15, 2008 at 7:05 pm (Culture)
Tags: America, Culture, Economy, Entertainment, Facebook, Internet, Kids, Life, Money, Music, MySpace, Pop Culture, Purpose, Religion, Retail, Shopping, Teenagers, Television, TV, Tweens, Youth Ministry
I found the following statistics in The Journal for Student Ministries this weekend, and thought they were worth sharing.
(Before you read, I must tell you that the more I read them, the more I felt like a small bit of ice in an ever-growing snowball. Each stat heaped more evidence of a clutter-filled life upon the previous statistic, and when I finished them, my head hurt from the overwhelming success culture enjoys at garnering the attention of the American teenager. It’s a little frightening. And it should be.)
TV
- TV consumption among teens is up slightly to an average of 11.9 hours a week.
- Teen boys watch more television than teen girls, averaging about an hour and a half more (13.2 hours a week).
- For tweens (8 to 1), the average amount of television consumed during a typical week is 12.2 hours, with tween boys watching about 14.5 hours (during the school year).
- Three of ten guys’ top-five favorites are animated, led by The Family Guy, followed by The Simpsons and South Park.
- The Office moved up nine slots to the third most popular show among all teen males.
- Biggest mover for teen girls: ABC Family’s Greek, which came in tied for eighth.
- For tween viewers, American Idol is no longer number one; now it’s Hannah Montana.
- For tween girls, ABC’s Dancing with the Stars moved up four notches to land in the fifth spot.
- For tween boys, it’s all about SpongeBob and Zack & Cody. The biggest mover was the ABC comedy The George Lopez Show, which shot up 10 spots to secure the seventh spot.
Internet
- Teens spend 12.5 hours online while tweens spend only 6.4 hours (typical week during school year).
- Teens have grown tired of MySpace and have moved on to Facebook in the past couple of months.
- Only a couple of virtual worlds are on tweens’ radars.
- The top sites tweens visit — Webkinz among both tween boys and tween girls. Then Neopets, owned by Viacom’s interactive unit, as well as Nick.com.
- Club Penguin remains in third place for tween girls and dropped from 11th place to 13th place for tween boys since last summer.
- AddictingGames is fast becoming the top casual gaming site among all youth.
Entertainment and Pop Culture
- During a typical month teens seen an average of 1.8 movies (in a movie theater).
- Tweens see an average of 1.3 per month.
- Tween attendance is consistent with a year ago, while the average number of movies teens see in a typical month has increased slightly from 1.5 movies a year ago.
- Most appealing movie genres for teens: Action/Adventure titles, followed by comedies.
- Tweens prefer comedies, followed by animated features, then action/adventure.
- For the third straight year, Pirates of the Caribbean star Johnny Depp retains the title as the most popular Hollywood celebrity among teen and tween females.
- Funny man Adam Sandler is tops among the boys, followed closely by the two Will’s — Smith and Ferrell.
- The most popular female celebrity among teen girls? Miley Cyrus, followed by Reese Witherspoon, Keira Knightley, and Amanda Byrnes.
- The top female celeb among teen boys is Jessica Alba for the second straight year, followed by Miley Cyrus, Ashley Tisdale, and Alicia Keys.
Retail and Shopping
- During a typical month teens spend an average of $135 across nine product categories.
- Nearly half of their spending goes towards clothing and accessories.
- For 16 and 17 year-old teens who have part-time jobs (minimum of 5 hours per week), their spending across the same nine categories jumps sharply to $264 a month, just about double the average among all teens and about 45% higher than the average for all 16 and 17 year-olds.
- For tweens, it’s all about candy, gum, and games.
- The most-visited specialty clothing retailer among teen females is Victoria’s Secret, followed closely by Hollister.
- Teen males visit American Eagle Outfitters more often than any other specialty retailer, followed by Abercrombie & Fitch and Hollister.
- Old Navy, for both tween boys and girls, remains the most shopped at specialty clothing retailer by a considerable margin.
It’s all a little overwhelming, isn’t it?
Memphis
March 18, 2008 at 5:27 pm (Music)
Tags: Elvis Presley, History, Memphis, Museum, Music, Rock and Roll, Rock n Soul Museum, Singing, Smithsonian, Soul Music
According to the Memphis Rock N Soul Museum, Memphis holds the record for the most references in recorded music, at around 900. You can click here for a complete list.
By the way, the Rock N Soul Museum is a great place to visit. One of the museum’s coolest exhibits is the original recording board from Sun Records, which was used to record Elvis Presley’s first record. It is a technical piece of equipment, a hulk of a machine, and when I saw it, it greeted visitors as they entered the gallery of early Memphis rock and roll. Enclosed in a glass case, it looked almost like an altar to me, the sacred piece of worship from which all singers and all songs in Memphis music history receive their power and existence.
It wasn’t lost upon me. Just to stand by that one piece of equipment, a sound board with primitive knobs that registered the sound waves from what may be the most recognizable voice in the history of modern culture, is powerful in its own subtle way. Of all the items in the exhibit, that one moved me the most.
